Mirrors of Memory
by I am No Dartboard
Summary: AU Anakin saved Qui Gon's life, and became his Padawan. Happily ever after? Yeah, right! As happy as they might be, Obi Wan has problems abound, and unwittingly drags his friends into it... COMPLETE!
1. Wake up

Disclaimer: boo hoo. I wish this stuff was mine but it isn't. sad.

Spoilers: nothing yet, I'll warn you if there ever will be.

A/N2 Accuracy is not guaranteed. If anything on the Jedi in general is wrong, please tell me, but just to warn you, I'm not exactly a Star Wars expert, so please don't kill me either. Also, flashbacks or visions that take place in the real episodes might not have the same lines or whatever as they normally did. It's all the same idea, though.

"_Take off, but fly low," Obi-Wan ordered the pilot. He nodded, and the Jedi turned to leave, barely sparing the child who had brought the message a curious glance. He hardly noticed when the same boy followed him towards the room where Qui-Gon now lay, panting on the floor._

"_Master!"_

"_I'm alright." Qui-Gon heaved himself up, then glanced around the room. "Anakin!" he shouted, and Obi-Wan turned. It was the boy who had told him of Qui-Gon's plight. He had picked up a blaster from who knows where, and was now balanced precariously on the same ramp that Qui-Gon had just jumped onto. _

"_What are you doing?" demanded Obi-Wan, aghast, but Anakin didn't pay him any attention. The young boy lowered the blaster, aiming carefully, and shot it at the alien who had attacked Qui-Gon. The alien staggered, then fell, his two sided lightsaber falling to the ground besides him. _

_Obi-Wan, at least remembering how to do one thing right, quickly lowered the ramp again enough so that he and his master could jump down. To his annoyance, the boy followed them, landing perfectly._

"_He's dead," said Qui-Gon, examining the corpse._

"_Where'd he get the lightsaber?" asked Obi-Wan, hefting the weapon and flicking it off._

"_I believe he may be a Sith," answered his master. Obi-Wan had never seen Qui-Gon that worried. _

"_How would a Sith get _here_?" he asked, but there was no reply to his question, and he hadn't expected one. _

_They examined the body and his weapon for a few more minutes, before Qui-Gon turned towards the boy._

"_Who taught you to shoot a blaster?" he asked, his brow still furrowed from worrying about the Sith._

"_Watto did," explained the child. "He wanted me to collect debts for him when I got older, and he said that I'd better be prepared."_

"_I can hardly imagine him teaching you anything," commented Qui-Gon._

"_He didn't, really. He just told me to learn. I'm a fast learner." Obi-Wan couldn't help but smile at the boy's pride as he said that. Someone, probably his mother, had undoubtedly told him that enough times that he believed it._

_Qui-Gon turned around to look at his apprentice. "Obi-Wan, this is Anakin Skywalker. Anakin, this is my apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi."_

"_You're a Jedi too?" asked Anakin, wide-eyed. "Pleased to meet you!"_

_Obi-Wan smiled._

* * *

**Coruscant, Five Years Later **

Obi-Wan Kenobi sat up and rubbed his eyes, wondering where he was. A few moments' confusion ended when he tried to roll over and fell off the couch he was sleeping on. Oh. He had fallen asleep in his living room, not even bothering to go to bed. Again.

_I'm getting soft,_ he reflected wryly. _I've only gone, what, three nights without sleep? And already I'm falling asleep in the middle of writing a report. _

Qui-Gon would say he needed to take better care of himself, but Obi-Wan shook that thought away before it entered his mind. He _knew_ what his former master would have to say on his living style for the past five years, and maybe he _did_ go to long without sleep, or forget to eat until he nearly passed out during a council session. Obi-Wan was the only one being harmed by it (both physically, and in other ways, passing out wasn't a good way to end a council session, and he had been embarrassed) and if he didn't mind, nobody else should.

Shaking depressing morning thoughts out of his head, Obi-Wan stumbled towards the bathroom and splashed water in his face. He couldn't help remember a younglings' story about a man who's reflection did different things than he did, but, of course, his was acting normally.

Silly of him to remember that now, or even glance at it. If someone else had been there, he never would, but Obi-Wan was alone all too often these days.

His bright, blue-green eyes studied the mirror for a moment, something else he never would have done if there had been someone else. His face stared back at him, blinking blearily. He needed a shave, but glancing at the clock in the other room, Obi-Wan realized that he wouldn't have time if he wanted to give the council that report this afternoon as he had promised. It was already almost eleven o'clock, and the report was only half-finished.

His stomach growled warningly, and Obi-Wan added another thing to his list. Oh, well. If he had already wasted time sleeping, he might as well slow himself down even more by eating. He could work while he ate, as much as he might dislike it, and a shower could wait until he got home after giving the report. He just didn't have time today.

As Obi-Wan left his apartment, he made a mental time check on his day. If he worked on it on his way to breakfast, and on his way back to his apartment, and again at both destinations, he might be able to finish in time to shower quickly before presenting it to the council.

During his little planning session, Obi-Wan hardly noticed that he had walked straight into a boy heading the opposite direction until the child fell down and said "Ouch," very loudly.

Jolted out of his moment of distraction, Obi-Wan glanced down at him and helped him up, apologizing absently. The boy pushed his blond Padawan's braid out of his face impatiently and stared up at Obi-Wan with curious blue eyes. He appeared to be about thirteen, and after a befuddled moment, the Jedi remembered who this boy was. Anakin, his master's third apprentice.

"Hi!" said Anakin, sounding just like the eight-year old that Obi-Wan had barely spoken too.

"Hello," he mumbled now, still distracted.

"What's that?" asked Anakin, pointing at the report in the older Jedi's hands. When Obi-Wan reluctantly explained, the boy brightened again.

"Cool. Want help?"

"No thank you, I doubt you'd understand it."

"But I'm a really fast learner!" absently, Obi-Wan remembered him saying something just like that five years ago, on Tatooine. He doubted Anakin remembered.

"No thank you. It's been good seeing you again, Anakin. Goodbye." Obi-Wan turned and walked away, not noticing that Anakin gave him a worried look that matched the one Qui-Gon always wore perfectly.

* * *

Did you like that? Please review and tell me what you think, and if I should continue. I'm sorry for the plotless state of my story, I'll try to make it better, but I just got so caught up in details that I didn't remember to give it a plot until it was too late. I'll do better next chapter… if you review and tell me what you think. If not, then I'll probably just abandon this like all my _other_ stories. 


	2. A Second Encounter

A/N thank you to Katieelessar, jedi71, and Alley Parker for your very kind reviews. Thanks to you, this story will continue. Enjoy the new chapter (and R&R.)

Obi-Wan groaned loudly and buried his head in his hands. "Bad day?" asked a voice from the corner suddenly. The Jedi started and pulled out his lightsaber, but when a small head peeked out of the shadows, he saw it was only Anakin.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Obi-Wan.

"Definitely a bad day," replied Anakin cheerfully. He stepped out of the corner and sat down on the edge of Obi-Wan's table, looking up at the older Jedi expectantly. "Want to talk about it?"

"What?" said Obi-Wan, completely confused. He had hardly spoken to this boy for five years, and now the youngling was acting as if they were best friends, and had been all that time.

Anakin shrugged. "That's what Master Qui-Gon always says whenever I'm in a bad mood or something. He says it helps to share your problems, but I just think it's because it's so hard talking about it in the _first_ place that you end up not worrying about what was worrying you, because you're so busy worrying about something else. Does that make any sense?"

"No," said Obi-Wan grumpily, then regretted being so harsh. However, Anakin didn't seem to care, simply shrugging and saying, "I never do."

"Look, do you-," began the older Jedi, but Ani interrupted him.

"I just learned a new way to attack with a lightsaber. Wanna see?"

Before Obi-Wan had a chance to answer, the boy began jumping around, waving his weapon wildly, although Obi-Wan recognized it as something Qui-Gon had taught _him_ when he had been Anakin's age. He hadn't been this eager to show random strangers, though.

"Anakin!" he exclaimed suddenly as one of the Padawan's jumps brought him precariously close to breaking the table he had just evacuated.

"What?" demanded the younger Jedi. "It's only a practice lightsaber, see?" he slashed at Obi-Wan several times, smiling up at him when the lightsaber passed through without leaving the slightest cut.

"I _know_," retorted Obi-Wan, embarrassed that he hadn't realized that. "You were just about to start knocking things over on your own. Just because the _lightsaber_ can't do damage, doesn't mean you can't."

"I was not," Anakin shot back, knowing he hadn't been anywhere _near_ damaging anything. "I'm a lot better with this stuff than you seem to think!"

"Well, _this stuff_ is a lot harder than _you_ seem to think, youngling, and even the best Jedi trip when they're in unfamiliar territory."

"I'm not a youngling," snapped the Padawan, but before Obi-Wan had a chance to retort, an amused voice from the doorway commented, "You're youngling enough to have to go back home when you're told, Anakin."

"Master!" exclaimed the pair in the room, although Obi-Wan kicked himself for calling him that. After five years, he still couldn't get used to Qui-Gon not being his master.

"Master Jinn," he said instead. "It's… good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, little one," answered Qui-Gon with a smile.

Anakin glanced back and forth between the two uncomfortable Jedi, and quickly tried to remedy the situation. "I didn't mean to disobey you, Master," he explained. Qui-Gon glanced down at him, waiting for him to finish. "I just… got distracted."

The older Jedi smiled and said teasingly, "When don't you, Anakin?"

"Sorry."

"Do you _ever_ learn?" asked Qui-Gon, his eyes never losing their teasing nature, but his tone exasperated.

"I _am_ trying, Master."

"_Why do I have the feeling you're going to be the death of me?" the man said gruffly. The other Jedi, a Padawan of about eighteen or nineteen, gave him a pleading look._

"_Don't say that, Master. You're the closest thing I _have_ to a father."_

"_Then why don't you ever _listen_ to me," his master asked exasperatedly. The boy's face turned rueful._

"_I _am_ trying, Master."_

"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon's face was concerned as he looked at his former apprentice.

"I'm fine," said the Jedi quickly, then kicked himself for being so obvious. "You know, I'm really busy today, so I should probably start on the… stuff I'm supposed to be doing. It's been really nice; we should do this again sometime. Goodbye."

Both of the others turned to leave, but not before Obi-Wan saw on their faces that while they heard what he had said, they didn't understand.

Sorry if that was short, I've just realized where the plot was going to go, and that realization shocked me so much I couldn't write anymore. Well, I've written the beginning, and I know the end. Maybe I'll actually figure out how I'm going to _get_ there this time. Please review. The button's _right there_!


	3. Visions and Councils

"Obi-Wan." The Jedi groaned and buried his head deeper in his elbow. "Obi-Wan, wake up."

"Five more minutes," he pleaded classically.

"Obi-Wan, you're not supposed to be asleep! Wake up."

"Why am I not supposed to be asleep?" Obi-Wan was waking up a bit more now.

"Because it's the middle of the day and you're in Dexter's Diner."

By now, the Jedi was starting to realize who it was who was calling him. "Master?" he murmured, then, like before, changed it to, "Master Jinn. What are you doing here?"

This time, he didn't quite notice the hurt that crossed the older Jedi's face before he said cheerfully, "No need to be that formal with your old master, Obi-Wan."

"Sorry," he muttered, still not quite oriented. Qui-Gon must have noticed this, because he smiled gently and said, "If you're going to fall asleep, a practice of which I approve of, although you don't seem to, you might want to do it at a time when the council hasn't summoned you to a meeting to give you your next assignment."

"Oh no," said Obi-Wan. "I'm probably late."

"Yes you are. Come on, we can still get there on time if we hurry."

"We?" asked Obi-Wan, but his old master didn't answer him, so he asked, "If we're already late, how can we get there on time?"

"I asked Anakin to try to slow them down a little when I realized you were missing. That wasn't to long ago, and he's good at that sort of thing. I only hope he didn't do anything rash."

Obi-Wan smiled. Even to a self-isolated Jedi, Anakin's pranks were legendary. "You're lucky," he commented as the pair hurried out of the diner. "To have an apprentice like that."

"I seem to be lucky with apprentices lately," answered Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan didn't ask what he meant by that.

Getting into Qui-Gon's speeder, the two Jedi managed to make it back to the Temple in less than ten minutes. As they left the vehicle, Obi-Wan felt a slight change in the Force.

"_What took you so long?"  
_

"_Oh, you know, Master," the boy he had seen three days ago said airily. "I couldn't find a speeder I liked."_

"_Anakin!" shouted the man, looking at the large object they were about to collide with._

"_Open cockpit, right speed capabilities," continued the boy, ignoring his master._

"_Anakin, pull up!" _

_The Padawan laughed manically, pulling up just a split second before crashing. _

"Obi-Wan?" asked Qui-Gon, looking concerned. His former apprentice looked up at him, snapping out of his trance. The man had called the boy 'Anakin', he thought. Anakin was Qui-Gon's apprentice, but this man who he called master was definitely not Qui-Gon. There were no other Padawans by the name of Anakin at the Temple, and yet Anakin and his master seemed to exist at relatively the same time Obi-Wan was in. And they did exist, of that he was inexplicably certain.

"Obi-Wan?" repeated his former master, looking even more concerned than ever. "Are you alright?"

"I have to see the council," Obi-Wan muttered distractedly.

"I know," said Qui-Gon, now appearing confused. "That's where we're going."

Obi-Wan nodded and didn't try to explain that he needed to see the council about a different matter. He let the other Jedi pull him along, still pondering the boy and his mysterious master.

* * *

"Go to Cardassia, you will. Leave in two days, you will. Any questions, you have?"

"Not about the mission, no," answered Obi-Wan, fidgeting. Master Yoda made him nervous, as did all members of the Jedi Council.

"What is it?" asked Shaak Ti.

Nervously and with many pauses, Obi-Wan told them about his visions. "They appear to take place now, or less than a decade either way, but there was no Jedi by the name of Anakin before the Padawan training with us now, and the boy is too old to have not begun yet," he finished.

"Disturbing, this is," said Yoda.

"Perhaps it is a prophetic vision," suggested Mace Windu. "You say the boy appeared to be about eighteen or nineteen?" Obi-Wan nodded. "Then perhaps this is a future Anakin, five or six years from now."

Obi-Wan barely managed to hide his revulsion at the very idea. "But the boy's master was a man I don't know," he said.

"Perhaps it was one who already is a Jedi, only appearing to be different because they're five or six years in the future," suggested Shaak Ti.

"But Anakin already _has_ a master!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. "Why would he just change masters in the middle of his training?"

The Council members exchanged unreadable looks, but it was Yoda who answered. "Meditate on this, I will," he said. There was a pause.

"Dismissed, you are," he added when Obi-Wan didn't move. The Jedi started to leave, but Windu called him back.

"Obi-Wan," he said. The man turned. "While it would be best if you kept quiet about this," a few of the council members smiled. Obi-Wan wasn't known for his speeches. "I believe Qui-Gon has a right to know. This does concern him, and his Padawan learner."

Obi-Wan nodded, unsure of how he would tell Qui-Gon of this, and left the room. This time nobody stopped him.

* * *

Sorry if that was short. I'll try to make them longer in the future. Anyway, poor Obi-Wan's going to keep having these visions of how things really happened for a while, but I'm not entirely certain how long this'll go on before it's resolved. Thanks to the same people as last time for reviewing then _and_ a second time, all three of them. Go you! Also thanks to Blackrosemystic, SWTKD, and Alena Rivendell for your reviews. Reviewing makes me happy, and I write better when I'm happy. Yes, I am bribing you guys, but so what? Anyway, hope you liked it, and don't kill me if I got their real lines wrong. 


	4. Difficult Explanations

A/N: now things are getting a bit more exciting. The quotes I looked up on the internet, so its not my fault if they're wrong. Thanks to Alley Parker (again) and Ellenlome for reviewing. I promise all of you that I will explain the visions Obi-Wan's having, and I'll update more often to make up for the shortness. Although with school starting soon… Anyway, this is really not going the way I expected it to, so expect some plot twists, unless I get it back on track safely. Hope you like it, please review.

"Well." Qui-Gon paused, seeming at a lack for anything else to say. "I see." Obi-Wan waited, but that was all he said.

"Well?" he burst out finally. Qui-Gon looked at him. "Aren't you going to say anything?" he demanded.

"I did say something. First I said 'well', followed by 'I see', and now I'm saying this."

"This isn't funny, Master!" this time, Obi-Wan didn't correct himself, something Qui-Gon seemed very pleased about. "What does this mean?"

"You know very well what this means," Qui-Gon said sharply. "It means, sometime in the next five or six years, I will die, or otherwise be rendered incapable of being a Jedi, and someone else will train Anakin. Thank you for telling me this."

"But Master, if you do… die," Obi-Wan said the last word in almost a whisper. While he hadn't been close to Qui-Gon in the past five years, the idea that his master could die was still as frightening as it probably was to Anakin "then now that you know of it, you can change it!"

"It's not good to change what truly happens, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon reminded him. "If I am meant to die, then I will."

"But…"

"That's the will of the Force, my friend. Nothing either of us can do will change it."

Obi-Wan started to protest again, but stopped at the look on his friend's face. Qui-Gon could be more stubborn than a bantha when he truly wanted to. "Alright," he said instead, and turned to leave, but was stopped as he spotted a small face peeking out from its bedroom.

"It looks like I'm not the only one who had some explaining to do tonight," he commented, pointing. Qui-Gon shot him a glare, as if annoyed that his former Padawan would put him in a position of explaining his upcoming death to a thirteen-year-old, and beckoned the boy out of his hiding spot.

"You're _supposed_ to be asleep, Anakin," Obi-Wan heard Qui-Gon say as he exited.

"Was Master Kenobi correct, Master?" Anakin answered. "Are you really going to… die?" like Obi-Wan, he said the last word in a whisper. But Obi-Wan didn't hear his old master's response.

The Jedi made his way back to his own apartment, and started to go to sleep. He smiled a bit as he stared at the bed. Until today, he had always insisted that he only _needed_ to sleep about once a week. Now, however, when he finally submitted to exhaustion, he couldn't sleep. Instead, he wandered out onto the balcony, and sat on the railing.

On the balcony next to him, someone had left a coat the last time he or she had been outside. Normally, Obi-Wan would have reminded them the next morning to fetch it, but he had no idea whose balcony it was. He smiled wryly and reminded himself to get to know his neighbors better.

The next balcony over was occupied by a tall man and a small teenager. Obi-Wan glanced over at them. This time, at least, he knew who it was.

"We don't know for certain what's going to happen," said Qui-Gon gently. "All we know is that Obi-Wan has seen something five or six years from now when you have a different master."

"But if we can't tell who that Jedi is because they look different in five or six years, how can we tell that it isn't you?" demanded Anakin. Obi-Wan blinked. He hadn't thought of that. But Qui-Gon recognized the gap in his apprentice's logic.

"Even Jedi don't get any younger, Anakin," he reminded him even more gently than before. "I don't know how old he was, but Obi-Wan seemed certain he was someone different. But don't worry about it now. For today, I'm still alive."

"Alright, Master."

"You're going to worry anyway, aren't you," commented Qui-Gon. Anakin nodded, and his master answered, "Well don't. I'll be alright."

Anakin smiled now. "Now that I know about it, maybe I can save your life."

"For the ninth time."

"Tenth, Master. That business on Aldaaran does too count!"

"_Alright, but you owe me. And not for saving your life for the tenth time."_

"_Ninth. That business on Aldaaran doesn't count."_

"_Agree with you, the council does. Your apprentice, the boy Skywalker will be."_

"_Qui-Gon's defiance, I sense in you. Need that, you do not."_

"_Promise. Promise me you will train the boy. He... is the chosen one... he will bring balance. Train him."_

"_We decided to come and rescue you."_

"_Good job."_

"_Lost a planet, Master Obi-Wan has. How embarassing."_

"_Jedi business. Go back to your drinks._

"_Just being around her again is intoxicating."_

"_Can you fly a cruiser like this?"  
_

_"You mean, do I know how to land what's left of this thing."  
_

_"Well?"  
_

_"Well, under these circumstances I'd say the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant."_

"This_ time we take him together."_

"_I was just about to say that."_

"_Send me to kill the Emperor. I will not kill Anakin."_

"_You're going down a path I can't follow!"_

"_Twisted by the Dark Side, young Skywalker has become."_

"_From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!"_

"_Then you are lost."_

"_I… hate you!"_

"_You were a brother to me!"_

Obi-Wan, suddenly realizing what these visions were trying to tell him, started and fell off the balcony.


	5. The Full Story

Obi-Wan opened his eyes and sat up. At least, he tried to, but the shooting pain in his ribs stopped him. "Oww," he moaned.

"He's awake," announced a young voice he recognized as Anakin's.

"I can tell," commented Qui-Gon's voice. His head leaned into the other Jedi's line of vision. "Are you alright, Obi-Wan?" he asked.

"What happened?" asked Obi-Wan.

"You fell off the balcony!" that was Anakin, leaning in on the other side.

"I certainly _feel_ like I fell off the balcony," Obi-Wan commented. "And into a bantha stampede."

"Feeling better, you must be, if joke, you can," commented another voice that was certainly Master Yoda's.

"I wasn't joking, Master," explained Obi-Wan, trying to push himself up to see the short Jedi, and being shoved gently back by Qui-Gon. "I _do_ feel like I've been trampled by banthas."

"Only fell off the balcony, you did," answered Yoda. "But feel like banthas trampled you, you may. Force trouble, there was."

"What? What's going on?" asked Obi-Wan, feeling that Anakin might not have explained it fully.

"Every time you have one of your visions, there's a slight… surge, for lack of a better word, in the Force," explained Qui-Gon. "But then, you had so many at one time that there was so much extra Force in you that you collapsed. Off the balcony."

"And you broke your ribs, but that was falling that did _that_," added Anakin helpfully.

"Well, that explains something," muttered Obi-Wan, still feeling bantha-trampled.

"What did you see that caused you to fall like that?" demanded Mace Windu.

"A lot of things," answered Obi-Wan. "I'm still trying to work them out."

Windu looked like he was about to respond, but Qui-Gon said, "As you've been unconscious for the past three days, you haven't exactly had much time to try." The Jedi council member didn't say anything, but he seemed satisfied with Obi-Wan's efforts.

Stretching out with the Force, Obi-Wan sensed that in addition to Anakin and Qui-Gon, a few Healers were present, as well as the entire Jedi Council, although a few were represented by holograms. This confused the young Jedi more than anything, because there was no real reason for the Council to be too concerned with his well-being.

It must be the visions, he decided. They certainly _were_ odd, clearer than most normal visions, although the Council still believed they were about the future. Obi-Wan didn't know what they were about, but he could tell that some of the events had taken place in the past, although none of them were events he recognized.

"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon was looking at him, concerned. The younger Jedi smiled.

"Sorry, Master," he said sheepishly. "I was thinking."

Qui-Gon seemed to relax a bit, but all he said was, "Anakin, you'd better go, unless you want to miss your lessons."

The boy grinned. "If I thought you were really giving me a choice…" He said as he exited.

Qui-Gon smiled after him affectionately, and then turned to Obi-Wan. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know very well what I mean, Obi-Wan," his former master said. "I know you too well to believe what you told the Council. What's really on your mind?"

"You heard that I saw Anakin five years from now with a different master?"

"Not that again!" exclaimed Qui-Gon, seeming annoyed at the fact that both of his apprentices were obsessing over his imminent death.

"No, that's not it," said Obi-Wan quickly. "I saw how you died."

"Obi-Wan, you can't change that. Some things are _supposed_ to happen, and if you change that…"

"That's not it either!" exclaimed his apprentice. Qui-Gon smiled.

"Alright, alright, I'll let you finish."

"Thank you. I saw you die, but it was strange. It seemed to take place five years ago."

Qui-Gon looked like he wanted to interrupt, but then stopped himself and settled for looking confused.

"I don't understand it, but… Well, do you remember that Sith Lord who Anakin killed?" Obi-Wan twitched a little with guilt at the memory, but continued. "Somehow, in what I saw, Anakin didn't kill him, and you died to him a few days later. When you died, I promised to train Anakin, and ten years later he married Senator Padmé Amidala secretly. A few years after that, he turned to the Dark Side and destroyed the Jedi."

After Obi-Wan finished telling his story, Qui-Gon didn't say anything, seeming to be stunned. "I might have interpreted it wrong," began Obi-Wan quickly, but his master shook his head.

"I don't think so," Qui-Gon said sadly. He got up. "I have to see the Council about this. They may want to speak to you…" he didn't finish, but Obi-Wan nodded.

"I'll be okay once I've had some rest." Qui-Gon smiled. "What is it?"

"Nothing," the older Jedi said. "I'm just remembering how much you hated resting after being injured when you were a Padawan."

"You must have me confused with Anakin," Obi-Wan retorted. _"Anakin! How many times do I have to tell you? Stay away from the power couplings!" _ "I followed the rules, unlike _some_ people."

"Oh, Anakin's not that bad…"

"I wasn't talking about Anakin."

Qui-Gon blinked, and than laughed. "Its good to have you back, my friend."

Obi-Wan didn't answer, but he couldn't have agreed more.

Sorry about the shortness. I'll try to make them longer, but I just couldn't get this going. Also, apologies about all the OOCness in this chapter (and any in the others) I'm really not at my best today, and I posted later than usual because I was at a sleepover. _Anyway_, can anyone tell me the time difference between Episodes 2 and 3? I hadn't seen 2 when I saw 3, so if they say, I missed it. It might not show up in this story, but it's still something I might like to know. And it still might. Hope you liked it, and please review.


	6. What to Change

A/N Because of school starting tomorrow, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update, but I'll try to keep it up, okay? Now I need to figure out what the end's going to be like, and what caused all of this to happen in the first place. Don't worry, I'll get it, even though it might suck. Reviewers thanked at the bottom of the page.

Spoilers: Okay, I'm getting into the bad area, with spoilers from every episode. Beware.

Obi-Wan was still a little unsteady on his feet as he stood before the Council, but he managed to not look it. He could sense Qui-Gon watching him carefully, but didn't mind as much as he would have before. He was glad that his old master was still around.

How long it had been since he had first awoken, he didn't know, someone had told him but it had slipped his mind. All he knew was that it was long enough for him to have mostly healed, and short enough that nobody seemed to have aged significantly.

"Decided, the council has," Yoda announced. Obi-Wan looked up. "Found, we have, a 'surge' in the Force like the one that felt, you did," the green Master continued.

"When?" demanded Obi-Wan, forgetting for the moment that he wasn't supposed to interrupt Jedi Council Members in that way. A few of the others shot him disapproving looks, but he didn't mind.

"It seems to be at exactly the moment the universe of Obi-Wan's visions split off from ours," said Mace Windu.

"When Anakin shot Darth Maul?" asked Qui-Gon.

"No," Obi-Wan answered for the Council. "When the Federation blocked Naboo's trade."

"I thought you said we _were_ sent on the very same mission in that version of events," Qui-Gon said, confused.

"We were. But we were sent a year later. Everything in that version happened a year later."

"But what would that have changed?" asked Qui-Gon, and this time Obi-Wan didn't have an answer.

"Always foresee, we cannot, what do, the Force will," explained Yoda.

"More things may have changed for Anakin in that year than we know," agreed Windu.

"So in that version," Qui-Gon was still obviously trying to puzzle this out, "Anakin never shot Darth Maul…"

"You were killed by him a few days later," continued Obi-Wan.

"Anakin became Obi-Wan's apprentice," added Windu.

"And to the Dark Side, the boy Skywalker went," finished Yoda tensely.

"The question is," put in Shaak Ti, "will that event happen in our version?"

"If true, that is, than stop it, we cannot," said Yoda sadly.

"Maybe we can," contradicted Obi-Wan suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him, and he flushed, but continued determinedly. "From what little I know of Anakin's turning, there were a few events that led up to it that could have been preventable if we had suspected that they would happen."

"Such as…" asked Windu.

"His marriage to Padmé Amidala," suggested Qui-Gon, who, by now, knew the whole story just as well as Obi-Wan did.

"Prevent that, we can," agreed Yoda.

"And maybe Qui-Gon not dying will change a few things on its own," added Obi-Wan. "Qui-Gon's a very different master to Anakin than I was, and maybe that could help."

"Or harm," said Qui-Gon, giving him a stern look.

"Well, it can't exactly make anything _worse_ than it was that time," said Shaak Ti.

_Few things can_ Obi-Wan thought, but he didn't say anything.

"Attempt to stop Anakin's turning, we all will," finished Yoda. "To him now, you must speak."

"You want us to _tell _him?" demanded Obi-Wan, outraged.

"Best if he knows, it is," answered Yoda, to nods of agreement from the other Council members. Qui-Gon stepped lightly on his former Padawan's foot to prevent him from making a second fool out of himself, and the pair exited.

"How's Anakin going to take it?" asked Obi-Wan after they left.

"I don't know," admitted Qui-Gon. "I've never had to explain anything like this to him before."

"He'll be alright," Obi-Wan assured him.

"I forgot you know him just as well, or better than I do," smiled Qui-Gon.

"It feels odd, with both of us thinking we were his master," agreed the younger Jedi.

"Speaking of which," the other added, "what did you mean back there?"

"What?"

"When you said that you not being his master might make him not go over to the Dark Side. What was that about?"

"Well," Obi-Wan tried to find the best way to say this. "You're a more experienced master than I am. It's never good to be the first Padawan, because then the master's trying to figure out exactly how to do this."

"You've forgotten, I had an apprentice go over to the Dark Side once before. It could happen again."

Obi-Wan stopped, surprised. Qui-Gon didn't talk about Xanatos much, and he had almost forgotten that his old master had suffered the same fate that, through his visions, he had too.

"Now that we know about it, we can stop it," he said briskly. Qui-Gon nodded, looking a little relieved to be off the subject of his old apprentice.

"How do you think we could prevent Anakin and Padmé getting together?" he asked instead. "And what else would that change?"

"When Padmé comes back as a Senator, there is an assassination attempt. While I, or rather, you, try to find out who it was, Anakin takes her back to Naboo so that she won't be harmed. It's his first mission alone, and he's very exited about it, but don't let him go. They fall in love. Five or six years later, he learns that she'll die, and goes to the Dark Side to prevent it."

Qui-Gon looked a little surprised, but only nodded. "And what else would their marriage change?" he asked. Obi-Wan thought for a moment…

"_You knew my father?"_

…"_Your sister, Luke"_

"_My sister? Leia!"_

"_I am your father."_

"_There still is some good in him…" _

"_Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You are my only hope."_

"Obi-Wan?"

The Jedi looked up at his former master and gave a rueful smile. "They have twins. Luke and Leia. Both of them are pretty important, but mostly to stopping Vader."

Qui-Gon looked a little annoyed. "Of course, when the only way to stop all that destruction is to make sure he doesn't marry, he has twins. _Important _twins, too. Only Anakin could cause all that. Is there anything else?"

"Yes," admitted Obi-Wan. "Another thing that might have helped cause his turning would be his mother's death."

Qui-Gon gave him a questioning look. "How does _that_ fit in?"

"On the same mission he falls in love with Padmé, he also goes back to Tatooine following a series of prophetic dreams he had about his mother dying. He finds her being killed by Tuscan Raiders, and slaughters the whole lot of them, even the defenseless ones."

Obi-Wan had never seen his master look more shocked. "I _knew_ Anakin had a temper, but this…" he muttered. "It all balances on that one mission, then," he said. "All we have to do is stop him from going on it."

"Unfortunatly, that mission is also very important. He _has_ to go on it, or too many things won't happen." Obi-Wan paused. "Then again, all that really happens is fighting Dooku, and we don't even beat him until later, and the clones, and they didn't have anything to do with Anakin. Not to mention that they slaughter all of us."

"Well. That would _definitely _be something to miss out on," commented Qui-Gon, smiling.

What neither of them knew was that Chancellor Palpatine was watching them carefully. He had heard about Obi-Wan's visions of the future, and vowed to watch young Anakin Skywalker very, very carefully.

* * *

Finally, one with a length I can actually not be terrified of. It's still not very long, but oh, well. Okay, so, last time I forgot to list the reviewers, so here they are, along with my apologies. Alley Parker, Alena Rivendell, Jedi Ha'Li, music nimph, Ellenlome, and Data Kenobi reviewed chapter 4. And music nimph and Ellenlome reviewed chapter 5. And, in response to the things mentioned in more than one review, I will not kill or torture Obi-Wan, (I've passed by 'murder every character in the story stage) 5 or 6 years between Episodes 2 and 3 sounds about right, and I don't _do_ bad Qui-Gon stories. Wow, this thing is really long. 


	7. Searching for Bounty Hunters

A/N If this one is extremely short, look at it this way: I posted twice in one day. I deserve to make it short, which I just did. Anyway, this one's pretty pointless, mostly dialogue. Just everyone goofing off in the beginning, the discussing things, and then… well, you'll see.

Obi-Wan relaxed against the wall, watching master and apprentice through half-open eyes. It had been four years since he had last had a vision of their future, five since he had started having them, but, to the obvious relief of the pair, he hadn't gone back to his usual solitary lifestyle after he was no longer needed in their lives.

It had been a while since he had seen them, having been on a mission to the Outer Rim for the past two months, and was glad to be home. Right now, Qui-Gon and Anakin were sparring with practice lightsabers.

"Gotcha!" cried Anakin gleefully as he disarmed his master. Qui-Gon grinned.

"I must be getting old if I can lose to a squirt like you," he teased.

"Oh, come off it," his Padawan scoffed. "Competing with me keeps you humble."

"You mean losing to you."

"Same difference."

"Well, my ego is certainly not the largest in the area."

"Hey, I deserve it! You can't say I'm not good!"

"Your ego should never exceed your miti-chlorians count," commented Obi-Wan from the wall. Both looked up, seeing him for the first time.

"Master Kenobi!" Anakin exclaimed, pulling the smaller man to his feet and hugging him. "You're back!"

"And I see you _still_ haven't matured past eight, my friend," Obi-Wan retorted. Anakin just grinned as Qui-Gon came up to extend his own greeting.

"How was the mission?" he asked.

"As good as can be expected, considering where I was."

"You're alive," Anakin pointed out. "You can't say _that's_ not good."

"Always keeping me optimistic," Obi-Wan laughed. "I suppose that _is_ something to be grateful for."

"Did you find him?" asked Qui-Gon, lowering his voice automatically, although Anakin was too old to be left out of the conversation, and could hear perfectly, and nobody else was around.

"No," answered the other Jedi. "I asked everywhere for a bounty hunter who looks like the one I remember, and finally, I found one that had come to Coruscant recently for unknown reasons."

"Who was he?" demanded Anakin quickly, and the other two exchanged looks. They both knew that they had to stop the boy going to the Dark Side, and his protectiveness to the Senator before she was even present worried them.

"I don't know," Obi-Wan answered. "The man who told me claimed he didn't have the information, but he had full files on everyone else using his transport system. I convinced someone to start a bar fight…"

"Convinced?" demanded Qui-Gon sharply. "How?"

"With more credits than I should have. Anyway, I paid him to start a bar fight, and snuck back to look at his records. Unfortunately, while he had said earlier to have had a passenger of that description, there were no records of that man ever using the transport."

"He must have deleted them!" exclaimed Anakin. "What did he say when you asked him about it?"

"I didn't. To do that would have meant admitting I had looked at his records without permission. Either way, we know one thing. He's already here."

"And all we know about him is that he has a son named Boba, wears a large suit, and paid a changeling to kill Senator Amidala," mused Qui-Gon.

"_Will_ pay," corrected Obi-Wan. "The senator isn't even here yet, but I believe the assassination attempt will happen as soon as she arrives."

"Which means we can stop it!" announced Anakin, obviously pleased with this.

"And catch whoever did… will do it," added Qui-Gon. "They have to be near to cause the explosion."

Obi-Wan nodded. "She…" but he paused in mid sentence, staring off into the distance.

"Obi-Wan?" asked Qui-Gon, looking concerned. His former apprentice turned and looked at him, blinking. "Another vision?"

"Yes."

"What is it?" asked Anakin, looking as worried as the adults.

"He's coming," whispered the Jedi.

"Who?" demanded the others in unison.

"Jar Jar Binks.

Couldn't resist the Jar Jar crack. Yes, he will be in it. I personally like him, so no, he won't die. Thanks to SWTKD, for reviewing. No, I didn't expect more reviews, since it's only been a few hours since I last checked. I really don't have a life.


	8. Assassination Attempt

A/N: Yay, I managed to get another one out before school started! By the way, for everyone who answered my question about the time difference between 2 and 3, SWTKD was right, 3 years or so. (I spent all day yesterday home alone, so I found out a lot of random trivia on random stuff) Thanks to SWTKD, Alley Parker, Mikey15, and Data Kenobi for reviewing. Yay, you rock. Now that it's officially into Episode 2, a lot of things are going to be familiar, which is why I justify the end as officially not a cliffhanger.

"Obi! Qui! Mesa so smilin' to seein' yousa!" cried Jar Jar, throwing himself on them.

"Air," rasped Qui-Gon, trying to free himself from the Gungun's death grip.

Jar Jar released him. "Oh, mesa berry, berry sworry, Master Qui!" he exclaimed, but was distracted for the moment as Anakin entered the room behind them.

"Little Ani?" he asked incredulously, then gave a cry of delight, shouting incomprehensionable words and suffocating him.

"Gaah, Jar Jar!" exclaimed Anakin, throwing him off. "I can't protect the senator if you suffocate me," he said very slowly and clearly.

"Mesa berry, berry sworry, Master Ani!" he exclaimed.

"I think we've heard that one before," muttered Qui-Gon.

Padmé entered the room from the other side, talking with a handmaiden and a guard, but broke off when she saw the three Jedi.

"Senator, looky looky!" called Jar Jar. "Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Little Ani Skywalker are here to protect yousa!"

"Master Jinn," said Padmé smoothly. "I'm glad to see you." Her eyes turned to Anakin. "Ani? Is it really you? Oh, you've grown so much!" she half-started to hug him, but then stopped herself, and turned quickly to Obi-Wan.

"Senator Amidala," introduced Qui-Gon. "You've met, Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

"Yes, I have," she said, smiling. "I though there was only going to be two Jedi assigned to us…"

"I have… another mission that I am working on. It closely concerns you and you people, so I am assisting my friends on this, while trying to… complete my own mission."

He winced internally as he said that. They had watched the site of the explosion for any sign of the assassin, but she must have spotted them, because it never took place. That had been their first lead, and before she hadn't hesitated to attack Padmé while there had been two Jedi in the building before. Three shouldn't make much difference, as long as they were in another room.

He sincerely hoped not, because if she didn't attack tonight, they would have no predictable hope for catching her, and eventually, the bounty hunter.

Padmé smiled. "Alright." She, Anakin, and Qui-Gon sat down to discuss tactics for watching out for the people inside. Obi-Wan watched them carefully. Padmé was certainly smart, but she didn't have any idea what was going on. She and her people believed that Obi-Wan had gone to the Outer Rim on Jedi business, and had received a tip-off of the attack, but it hadn't occurred because of the extra security measures the Jedi had placed on the landing pad. She thought he knew that there would be another attack, but not when, and that because of the information he had received on the Outer Rim, his original mission was now closely connected to that of Qui-Gon and Anakin.

Qui-Gon, he noticed was watching the other two carefully, with his usual amount of subtlety. He was getting older, Obi-Wan thought sadly, but smiled at the realization that Anakin had given him a chance to do so, even if Obi-Wan couldn't have helped. The grey in his old master's hair was like a parasite, set loose by the years, gobbling up the brown, taking over little bits at a time. One entire braid had been commandeered, and his lion-like face was lined with creases. Either way, he seemed just as alert as ever, watching the younger two carefully for any sign of things gone wrong.

Despite his concern, Anakin seemed to be behaving himself perfectly well. He seemed a little… frightened of Padmé, as if thinking of how much terror he had caused, for her sake at first, and then simply because causing terror was what he did. As reckless as the boy could be, Obi-Wan thought proudly, his heart was in the right place… for now. But today, at least, he knew how much suffering he would cause, and would do anything to stop it. These past five years had been hard on him, always knowing that he was destined to do something that horrible, but being around so many people who didn't know, so many people he would one day kill if they failed.

"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon looked up as Padmé and the others went to bed, and Anakin left to check the premises. "Are you having one of your visions again?

Obi-Wan smiled at his friend. "No. I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

He paused, and then said quietly. "So much depends on this. When we did it before, it was only the senator's wellbeing, but now…"

"Now if Anakin falls in love with her like he's supposed to, then he will become Darth Vader."

"Again, like he's supposed to. Are you certain we should change this?"

"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon sighed, as if wondering how to put this. "We know that, ten years ago, I was supposed to die. That's changed enough that, I think, we should try to make this version, this… alternate course of events as good as possible. Because, as we know, this is only one reality. How do we know there aren't more out there, more realities where one small thing is changed, and the entire universe is transformed?"

"We don't," said Obi-Wan, surprised. He had never thought of his master as one for philosophical thinking.

"So, if this reality changed my death, than perhaps another changed something else bad that had happened. Perhaps in the version you are seeing, someone is wondering if there is a version like our where something was changed to stop what happened."

"But how can we know if it's bad? It isn't bad or good, Master, it's _real_!"

"So are we! And if we change something, then _that_ is real. It doesn't make the other version any less real, it just makes it not this one. They're different courses of events, not meant to mix."

"Then why am I seeing what's happening in that one?"

"Perhaps it's to make sure they _stay_ different."

Obi-Wan realized that there was no arguing with his master on this point. Perhaps he was right, and if they knew of the terror about to happen, they should change it, or at least try. There was no certainty it would succeed, but it was better than nothing. Certainly better than being helpless against whatever was about to happen.

"I admit, I was… surprised when Anakin saved you," he said suddenly. "And a little guilty."

"Why?" asked Qui-Gon, looking at his friend in confusion.

"Well, Anakin stopped Maul before he could do anymore damage than he already had. I suppose I felt a little… silly that I couldn't have thought to do that. And once I started seeing the other version of events…" he let it hang, but Qui-Gon finished the sentence.

"In that version, you blamed yourself for my death?" Obi-Wan nodded, and his master gave him a look. "Obi-Wan, how could it have been your fault! There was nothing you could have done. _You were trapped behind a force field. _For all purposes, you weren't even there."

"But I _should_ have been!"

There was a short pause as Qui-Gon considered the conversation in general, and then his eyes widened. "Was _this_ why you were so self-isolated for five years?"

"I wasn't self-isolated, I was solitary."

"Obi-Wan…"

"Yes. It was."

Qui-Gon sighed deeply, giving the impression of a very exasperated person talking to a very silly person. "Let me get this straight. You spent _five years_ avoiding everyone because you blamed yourself for being trapped and unable to prevent my death which _didn't even happen_!"

Obi-Wan grinned ruefully. "Well, when you put it that way…"

Qui-Gon rolled his eyes and hugged the smaller man tightly. "You idiot," he muttered into his friend's hair. "You absolute idiot."

Obi-Wan wiggled out of the embrace, but he was smiling a bit more realistically now.

The door banged open before either of them could say anything. "Nothing," Anakin announced. "The lower levels are so heavily guarded it'll be a wonder if she doesn't turn tail and run."

"I hope we find her before that," commented Obi-Wan. "She _needs_ to lead us to the bounty hunter."

Qui-Gon glanced nervously at the closed door. "When did you say it was going to occur?" he asked Obi-Wan.

"We have a few minutes," remembered the younger Jedi, relaxing on the couch. "I think we should sense it…"

"I'm sensing it _now_!" exclaimed Anakin, jumping up and banging into the room. The other pair followed.

Two small, writhing creatures were climbing up the bed. Obi-Wan flicked on the light, knowing the extra second it would take Anakin to find them might kill Padmé, although he had done alright before, he reminded himself.

Anakin leapt onto the bed, slicing both neatly in half without even grazing the sheets.

"What?" began Padmé waking up.

Qui-Gon spotted the device that had deposited them, and jumped through the window, grabbing onto it.

"Anakin, come on!" shouted Obi-Wan, racing through the door and down the hall. This was all seeming a bit too familiar.


	9. Capture

A/N Okay, well, I managed to write another chapter on the first day of school. Yay for me. Maybe school won't impair my writing time so much after all. Yeah, right, just wait until I start getting all that homework. Okay, _anyway_, back to the relevant stuff… _I have 32 reviews!_ That's so cool! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, recent ones being: Jedi Ha'Li (three reviews since last post!) SWTKD (again) Child-Of-Dawn, Ellenlome (twice) and Seylin. Jedi Ha'Li mentioned Obi-Wan knowing more than he saw, and that was because he had an extra year of visions between chapters 6 and 7. Hope I cleared that up in this chapter. Sorry about the transition, couldn't find any good way to do it. Ellenlome: well, I didn't manage to get the whole chapter from Anakin's POV, but I did get a few scenes, and I hope I cleared everyone's confusion up.

"Anakin, come on!" shouted Obi-Wan, racing through the door and down the hall. Anakin shot a fleeting glance back at Padmé as he charged after his friend. She seemed more confused than frightened, and he wished they could have warned her about this, but that would have scared her, and if she didn't sleep than the attack might not have occurred. The faint light streaming in through the now-broken window cast an odd shadow on the former queen, making her look very beautiful…

Anakin shook off these thoughts as he followed his friend at top pace. He knew what would happen if he allowed his emotions to get the better of him. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had told him about Darth Vader, who he couldn't help but think of in third person. The young Jedi couldn't imagine himself doing any of the things Vader had done in Obi-Wan's visions.

His memory of the visions was as clear as if he had had them himself, as he had been told in great detail of all of them, after they had decided to tell him at all. It had taken a while for Obi-Wan to not fall off balconies like he had the first time he had received a major vision, but he _had_ had an entire year after that to practice. Then the visions had stopped coming, only to begin again yesterday.

Anakin jumped into the speeder a split second before Obi-Wan, getting to the driver's seat sooner than he could. The older Jedi barely had time to groan before the vehicle started up and they chased after their master.

"Over there!" directed Obi-Wan.

"I _know_!" shouted Anakin, making a wrong turn.

"Anakin!"

"Sorry! I'm going back."

"Look out!"

"Relax, he was nowhere near us."

"He was right on top of us!"

"I swerved."

"Two seconds before he hit us!"

"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan. If it makes you uncomfortable, I can modify my driving tactics, and swerve two seconds _after_ he hits us next time."

"No!"

"Relax, would you? We're almost there."

"Where's there?"

"To where Qui-Gon is, of course. You want to catch him, don't you?"

"Yes, but…"

"Master! Jump!" cried Anakin as they flew up underneath Qui-Gon a few seconds before the device crashed into a wall to dislodge him. Qui-Gon looked down, winced, and let go, landing right in between the pair.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"Oh, you know, I had to find a speeder I liked," began the Padawan.

"Anakin!" shouted both Jedi at once as he continued happily on his course towards a large obstacle.

"Open cockpit, right speed capabilities…"

"Anakin, pull up!" screamed Obi-Wan, while Qui-Gon visibly calmed himself down, knowing his apprentice would wait till the last minute, but would still avoid collision.

Anakin laughed manically at the expression on his friend's face as they dodged the obstacle. "You should have known he'd miss," commented Qui-Gon calmly as his friend tried to slow his shaking. "Follow that one," he added, pointing at a speeder.

"I hate flying," muttered Obi-Wan.

"You used to love it as a boy."

"And then I flew with Anakin. And now I _hate _flying."

"Aww, c'mon," protested Anakin. "I'm not _that_ bad. I'm rather good, actually."

"Yes, you are," answered Obi-Wan. "The problem is: you _insist _on showing it. And that would be fine if your specialty didn't seem to be avoiding collisions at the very last millisecond."

"Excuse me," Anakin said, jumping out of the speeder.

"I hate it when he does that," Obi-Wan muttered as Qui-Gon took the wheel.

They flew (much more slowly and carefully than Anakin had) behind the apprentice and his quarry, ducking under to avoid conflict with the other vehicles narrowly missing contact with the other two.

_Never lose this. This weapon is your life._

"Steer under the speeder. Anakin's about to drop his lightsaber."

"Thank you. Another vision?"

"Yes. Here it comes."

"Nice catch."

"Thank you."

They watched Anakin and the assassin struggling for another moment, and then the speeder crashed and Anakin was forced to jump off, landing in the middle of a crowed of people, who stared at him in shock and muttered amongst themselves.

"Just a moment," Obi-Wan told Qui-Gon, jumping out of the speeder himself as they flew over a bar. He landed right in front of the doorway, grabbing the assassin as she tried to duck inside.

"Let me go!"

"No. Not until you tell me who hired you."

Anakin caught up with him as she shook her head stubbornly.

"What was this bounty hunter's name?" demanded the Padawan, not realizing she hadn't already revealed this piece of information.

"His name was…" her voice was cut off by a dart in her throat. Both looked up automatically, although they knew what they would see.

The bounty hunter put away his weapon and tried to fly off, but was blocked by Qui-Gon in the speeder.


	10. Interrogations

A/N sorry about the shortness. Actually, without the random bits of everyone goofing off, it wouldn't even be worth posting. This one was fun to write, but just there to explain a few minor plot developments. Thanks to reviewers Satra, Child-of-Dawn, and Ellenlome. Also, I promise with the next chapter, I'll get back on track and actually have something of importance happen. Probably. I'm going to be having a birthday party later, followed by a sleepover so I'm not sure if I can post tomorrow. I'll try to go again today to make up for it. Just don't get your hopes up, because I'm not sure.

"Stop pacing, you're giving me a headache," ordered Qui-Gon, with nods of approval from Anakin.

"How can you be so calm?" ranted Obi-Wan impatiently.

"Because the Council's sorting it out," answered Anakin serenely. Obi-Wan looked at him in surprise. How different was this calm Anakin filled with faith for the Council than the hyper, mistrustful boy he had trained?

"What?" demanded the young Jedi, seeing that his friend was staring at him.

"Nothing, I was just noticing how silly you look with that hairstyle," retorted Obi-Wan.

"I do not!"

"Looked in a mirror lately?"

"Stop fighting, children," teased Qui-Gon good-naturedly.

"We're not children!"

"Yeah!"

"Put together, we're older than you are!"

"Yeah!"

"Are you mocking me?"

"Yeah!"

Qui-Gon sighed at his friends. "Obi-Wan, did you ever mature past four?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, now you're just _trying_ to annoy us."

"Yeah!"

"Have you noticed how pathetic your life must be if entertainment is bugging your friends by saying 'yeah' to absolutely everything they say?" commented Anakin.

"Yeah!"

"Are you a girl?"

"That's not fair!"

"Yeah!" agreed Qui-Gon. Both stared at him. "Sorry."

The doors to the Council chamber swung open before the trio could annoy each other any more. Two Padawans exited, with the bounty hunter walking in front of them.

"His name is Jango Fett," commented Mace Windu, coming out behind them and stopping in front of the other three. "You were right, Kenobi, he has a son named Boba. He said something about clones, but we have yet to understand what that means."

"_Begun, the Clone Wars have"_

_Obi-Wan glanced out the window at the armies of identical soldiers, and knew Yoda was right. _

Obi-Wan started as then next vision came to him. He turned to Windu before his friends could ask what was wrong.

"There is something bad about these clones. They're on our side, but…"

"What?" asked Qui-Gon, before the Council member could ask anything.

"I don't know. Something about a war. I'm not certain what it means."

"Well, we've found something else out as well," put in Windu. "Fett lived on a far-off planet called Kamino."

"_I'm sorry, Master Kenobi. If something is not in our Archives, then it does not exist."_

"A planet that doesn't exist," murmured Obi-Wan.

"_Go to the center of the gravity pull and find the planet, you will."_

"Obi-Wan?"

The Jedi looked up at the three others staring at him. "Kamino has been wiped out of our Archives, and it isn't on any star charts the Jedi have access to. I went to Master Yoda for help, and he pointed out that it _must_ have been erased, because there was a gravity pull where I knew it should be."


	11. Eavesdroppers

A/N Long wait and I didn't even make a very long one. Sad. Anyway, I've taken these past few days to figure out where I'm going with this story. The answer: absolutely nowhere. So I'm trying to add some new plotlines to it, but I can't remember enough about AOTC to be confident in it. Any spelling corrections or random stuff on Sypho-Dias would be appreciated. Anyway, I'm going to be getting some new POVs soon, and this one is Taun We's. Thanks to Ellenlome, Alley Parker, Jedi Ha'Li, Seylin, Satra, and doreenthatshot.

Taun We watched as the three men disembarked from their ship. The tallest came out first, an imposing figure with his graying brown hair hanging down his back, he didn't seem the least bit worried. Following him was a younger man with a braid hanging down to shoulder level, watching carefully for any sign of danger. The third seemed to be somewhere in the middle, with long hair and a beard, he appeared as if he was trying to remember something, and thought Kamino could help him.

All three wore the same brown robes the Jedi who come before had worn, but their ship was slightly different, more modern, she supposed. At that thought, she barely suppressed a snort. As if anyone on Kamino knew what modern was. Their secluded lifestyle had its assets, she admitted, but its drawbacks outnumbered them greatly.

The tall man walked up to her, the smaller two following like an honor guard to a king. He bowed. "I am Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is my Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, and my traveling companion, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Taun We noticed how he carefully paused over 'traveling companion', but left no trace of hesitation. These two were definitely friends, and this was his little way of telling her so, without appearing to.

"I am Taun We," she said, trying to make her voice as smooth as his. "I assume you've come to check our progress with the clones?" What else would they be here for? It wasn't as if Jedi constantly visited the Kamino cloners. They just took what they wanted and left.

She shook herself mentally, trying to get those ungrateful thoughts out of her mind. It wasn't to be expected that the Jedi were suddenly on visiting terms with her people, and they needed the business. It wasn't often that someone would put in an order for clones from such an out-of-the-way planet. She had suggested to Lama Su millions of times that they leave, but it would never happen, and she knew that.

Pulling her attention back to the three Jedi in front of her, Taun We noticed that Jinn's eyes flicked backwards quickly, and that the other man, Kenobi, nodded slightly, barely noticeable, but definitely a nod. Jinn obviously noticed it, and Taun We paused for a moment to appreciate how well these three worked together.

"Yes," Jinn said. "We are."

Taun We smiled, wondering what these three were really up to. "I'm afraid Lama Su, our leader, is unavailable at the moment, would you like me to show you to your quarters while you wait?" She made sure to say this in a way that left no doubt that they _would_ stay long enough to want a place, and that they _would_ wait for Lama Su.

Again, the tiniest glance back, this time acknowledged by Skywalker as well as Kenobi.

"Yes, thank you," answered Jinn calmly, as if he hadn't just asked his companions' opinions on a matter addressed solely to him.

"Right this way, then," Taun We answered.

She made sure to make small talk about how they had been beginning to think none of the Jedi were coming, and that Sypho-Dias had forgotten all about them, and where was he?

She half listened to the answers given by Jinn and Kenobi, occasionally with Skywalker bursting in, although it was apparent that that wasn't what was expected from him.

She answered their questions about Sypho-Dias' order, made sympathetic noises when told he was dead, and told them exactly when he had first come to Kamino.

But the entire time, she made sure to leave part of her mind concentrating on the mystery of these three Jedi.

That part of her mind was the part that brought them to the room with the open air vent that she could listen in on their conversations from the next room.

When she got to the other room, it was apparent that they had not been talking as soon as she left, perhaps making sure she really was gone before they began their conversation.

"What do you know about Sypho-Dias, Obi-Wan?" asked Jinn's voice after a moment.

"No more than you do," answered Kenobi gloomily. "I have a feeling I knew once, but I can't quite remember, and I could never prove it."

"Master, didn't he die shortly _before_ Taun We told us that he was here?" asked Skywalker curiously.

"Yes, he did," answered Jinn. "It's all very puzzling."

Someone, Kenobi she thought, uttered a short, barking laugh. "It's always been puzzling, Master. We'll figure it out. Eventually."

"Hopefully, we won't have missed anything back home," commented Skywalker.

"We won't miss anything, Anakin," answered Jinn. "What could possibly happen that we're not already aware of through Obi-Wan?"

"Nothing, I suppose. By the way, Taun We is in the other room listening to every word we say through the air vent."

"Thank you, Anakin. Obi-Wan?"

"I'll get her."

Taun We started; surprised that Skywalker could put something like this in a conversation so easily. She paused, wondering what to do when Kenobi came. Should she give up, deny it, try to explain? Or should she try to fight him? No, he'd win. Perhaps…

But before she could reach a decision, a voice from the shadows commented, "It's very impolite to eavesdrop, you know. Especially when someone else is as well."

Taun We jumped at the voice, but didn't have time to respond before a blow to the head knocked her into unconsciousness.


	12. Investigations and Requests

A/N Yay! One of the things I love about having an athletic brother is all the time home alone to hog the computer I get. Yay for me. Anyway, I've entirely butchered Taun We's character _again,_ and since my mom's home, I have to go soon, so the reviewers are Ellenlome and Child-of-Dawn. Okay, so now that I know where I'm taking this I just need a conclusion. Oh well, the end's far off.

"It's very impolite to eavesdrop, you know."

"Anakin, hush. Right now we have to worry about who knocked her out."

"Alright…" the voice, Skywalker, didn't seem too convinced.

"Taun We?" Jinn's voice was kind, a gentle reprieve from his companions' constant bickering. "Are you all right?"

Taun We forced her eyes open and looked at the three Jedi. They were bending over her, looking concerned, although Skywalker appeared annoyed as well, and Kenobi kept shooting him warning looks.

"Yes," she made herself say. "I'm fine."

"What happened?" this was from Skywalker, to her surprise, he actually appeared concerned.

"I don't know. I was just standing there," she glanced around and saw that they were in the same room as she had been earlier, "here, and then I felt someone hit me on the back of my head, then I woke up."

"Did the person who hit you say anything?" Kenobi asked. He and Skywalker seemed to be doing most of the talking, a surprising contrast to earlier.

"I…" Taun We wasn't sure what to say. If she told them, it would be admitting to eavesdropping.

"Taun We." Jinn spoke up suddenly. "We might be able to identify the person if you describe the voice and vocabulary."

"He (it was definitely a man) he said 'it's very impolite to eavesdrop, you know. Especially when someone else is as well.'"

The Jedi exchanged looks, but Jinn was the only one who spoke, saying, "Can you describe his voice?"

"It was deep, and… sort of- gravelly. I'm sorry- I can't explain it any better."

"That's alright," said Jinn gently.

"Did you see him? Even only his hand or weapon?" asked Kenobi briskly.

Taun We shook her head. "He hit me from behind, I didn't see anything."

"Do you have anyone who'd want to hurt you or anyone else who might have been there?" demanded Skywalker.

"None that I know of." Taun We was getting frightened now. Jinn saw that and turned to the other two. "I think we've gotten all we can from her. Did you see any way he could have escaped, Anakin?"

"No," answered the Padawan. "From what I can tell, Obi-Wan came through just after he got to Taun We, and there wasn't anyone there then. No extra doors or windows, no ladders or trapdoors, he just seemed to disappear."

"Odd," muttered Jinn. "He must have some sort of transporter technology."

"He couldn't have gotten very far," offered Kenobi. "Unless it was extremely powerful."

"And we still don't know why he attacked her in the first place," grumbled Skywalker.

"Maybe…" began Taun We, and then stopped, horrified with herself. If there was something she could have thought of, it was certain that the Jedi already had.

"What?" asked Jinn. The three were giving her the same looks they had while interrogating her, as if trying to read her mind. Remembering the stories of the telepathic powers of the Jedi she had heard, Tuan We barely managed to stop herself from clapping her hands to her head.

"Nothing," she muttered, but then suddenly said, "Maybe he didn't want anyone but him to have heard the conversation you had."

She glanced down, waiting for them to say politely that it was a stupid idea, but nobody said anything. Eventually, she looked up and saw that all three Jedi were staring at her.

"How'd you figure that out?" asked Skywalker, surprised.

Taun We shrugged. "I read a lot of mystery holo-novels," she explained, embarrassed.

"Well, it looks like fiction aids truth once again," commented Jinn, giving Kenobi a look.

"Alright, you win," laughed his friend, but then became serious again. "The question is: who would want to make sure that only they heard what we said?"

"Did we say anything of interest?" asked Jinn.

"Not out of context," answered Skywalker, looking confused. "Nothing that anyone would want to keep a secret."

"Especially if they weren't a part of the conversation in the first place," Kenobi pointed out. "Do you think it's someone we know?" he added as an afterthought.

Jinn shook his head. "There's no way of telling. I suppose we'll have to wait until he makes another appearance. Patience, my young Padawan," he added as Skywalker opened his mouth.

"I wasn't going to say anything," snapped the other Jedi, annoyed. "I was just going to comment that maybe we should finish what we came for and get off Kamino. It'll be easier if we have to fight him on familiar ground."

"I suppose you're right, Anakin," mused Qui-Gon. "Taun We, do you know when Lama Su will _be_ available, or were you too busy eavesdropping to find out?"

"I can probably take you to him now," muttered Taun We. If she had been human, she would have turned red.

"Then please do so," prodded Kenobi.

Taun We got up, barely having realized that she had been lying down this whole time, and led them out the door, her thoughts in chaos. She wanted to help these mysterious Jedi, but she didn't think she could face the mysterious man a second time.

Leaving Kamino wasn't an issue. Although she was the administrative aide to Lama Su, not many people liked her and her odd ideas about their chosen seclusion. And she had never felt much attached to her home planet…

They arrived in Lama Su's meeting chambers. Taun We listened as Kenobi and Jinn described the attack by bounty hunter Jango Fett, and his request that his 'son' join him on Coruscant. She noticed that, from what they had said earlier about Kenobi knowing something… more than the rest, they must be leaving something out.

But to her surprise, Lama Su agreed, and the three Jedi left with another Kamioan to fetch Boba. They left Taun We alone with her leader.

"What is it, Taun We?" asked Lama Su wearily, after noticing that she had stayed after them.

"Minister, I…" she paused, wondering how much she could tell him. Did the Jedi _want_ him to know about the attack? No, she answered herself, but, seeing the look on Jinn's face after he saw that she wasn't coming, they expected that she would tell everyone anyway.

But she had to tell him _something_. After starting a conversation like that, she couldn't just abandon it, no matter what people in stories did. There had to be something she wanted to tell him. Well yes, there was, but could she really do that?

Taun We took a deep breath and voiced her request.


	13. Another Pathetic Life Form

Boba Fett curled his legs underneath him and glared at the Jedi who was talking to him. They had told him their names, but he had quickly forgotten them in the chaos that ensued. Were they really taking him to his father, he wondered. Or was this just a trick. But who'd want to kidnap him? Unless it was _because_ of his father… but his father's enemies didn't know he existed. But these were _Jedi_. Jedi knew everything.

But if they had kidnapped him because of his father, then they probably _were_ taking him to his father. But then he wouldn't want to go. He'd want to break his father out of wherever they were holding him. Except he didn't _know_ where they were holding him, except that it was on Coruscant, (if they were telling the truth) but that was a big place, and Boba was frightened.

He'd get lost. No, he wouldn't. Coruscant was just a big city. A city the size of a planet because it _was_ a planet. And wherever they were keeping his father, it wouldn't be on the maps.

The Jedi who had been talking to Boba was extremely tall, taller than even his father, with brown hair that he wore in braids and a beard. Boba was extremely curious about the beards. His father didn't have one, which meant the clones didn't, and the cloners couldn't grow beads, so he had never seen one outside of holo videos.

But the tall one's beard was little compared to the bushy mass of hair that decorated the face of the smallest of the three. His beard was the same color as his hair, reddish blonde, and his eyes were bright blue.

The third Jedi was young, probably still some sort of apprentice. He wore his hair (only slightly darker than the second's) in a braid; his eyes were the same color as Beard's as well. Boba wondered if they were related. The tall one had introduced Braid and Beard as his Paddy-Something and his companion, but maybe Beard was his friend and Braid was Beard's son, which was why the tall one had taken Braid as his Paddy-Something?

Boba noticed that the tall one had moved away and was now conversing with the other two in low tones. The boy dropped off his chair silently and army-crawled his way to hide behind a machine-like thing next to them.

"-Just a child," Beard was saying. "He may not understand."

"I believe it's more than that," Tall answered. "I sensed much hostility from him."

"Wouldn't _you_ feel hostile if someone came and took you away from everything you knew?" demanded Braid. "He doesn't know us, and he has no way of telling if we're being honest."

Boba smiled despite himself, feeling a sudden kinship with Braid. The youngest of the Jedi, at least, seemed to know how he felt.

"I suppose," agreed Tall. "But we should be careful."

Boba grinned evilly, glad that the Jedi was frightened of him, or at least wary.

"It isn't as if he could overcome us," laughed Braid, and Boba returned to disliking him.

"It's not that, Anakin," answered Beard. "He'll be frightened, or at least confused. We need him on our side if any of this is supposed to work. We can't afford to frighten him even more. How do you suppose Fett would react when we told him we'd lost his son? How do you suppose the _Council_ would react?"

"If he's frightened, he's hiding it very well," commented Braid, or Anakin, as Beard had called him. Boba was pleased with his compliment, and decided to now think of him by his real name.

"That's not always the best method," responded Tall, and the others didn't argue. Suddenly Anakin looked over in his direction and then away again, his eyes glazing over and staring off into the distance. Tall gave a tiny nod and got the same look, and then Beard responded in the same manner to some silent communication.

Boba started, realizing that he had just unwittingly figured out what they were doing. And what reason would Braid have to speak silently to the others after spotting him if it _wasn't_ to tell them?

"Boba, you can come out now," called Tall quietly. Boba tried to hide for a moment, then realized it was useless and crawled out from under the machine and stood up.

"What?" he demanded angrily.

"Why were you listening to us?" asked Tall, the others seeming to fade into the background as he spoke.

"Why shouldn't I?" demanded Boba. "You're taking me somewhere I've never been, somewhere I don't even know if my father _is_, and telling me to just sit back and be quiet! I have _every_ right to know what's going on!" He used the same tone and similar words he had heard his father use when the cloners wouldn't tell him what was going on with the clones, years ago.

Tall smiled gently. "I suppose you do," he mused. "Sit down." Since Boba couldn't find anywhere else to sit, he flopped down on the machine he had hidden behind earlier, making a mental note to ask Anakin what it was later.

As soon as he sat down, something near him started beeping, shocking him into jumping up again. "I didn't do it," Boba cried automatically.

"Surprisingly, you didn't," commented Beard, leaning over and looking at a panel on another part of the machine. "A ship's approaching. It's Kamioan."

Tall looked surprised. "What are they _doing_? Kamioans never leave their home-world!"

"This one does," answered Anakin. "Only one person."

"They're hailing," added Beard. Tall signaled for them to respond and a face appeared on the screen.

Boba jumped. It was Taun We, the cloner who had taken care of him when he was small. Although it had been years since he had been in her care, he still felt an attachment to her. Now it seemed to Boba as if he had just found his mother somewhere in space after leaving her behind back home.

Taun We explained in her soft voice how she had followed them to accompany the Jedi on their mission. She didn't say what it was, and Boba found himself suddenly curious. Besides bringing him to his father, what _were_ these three up to?

The Jedi (Tall and Beard mostly, with a few injections by Anakin) answered that she _could_ come along, but they were curious as to why she had decided to join them.

"I just wanted to help," muttered Taun We, looking as if she felt very small. Boba noticed how intimidating the Jedi could be to someone who wasn't as brave as he was. He scowled, annoyed that the Jedi were so frightening to her, and suddenly felt very protective of the cloner.

"Well, if you have any more ideas like that one you had earlier, I'm sure you will," said Tall gently. Taun We nodded and the screen flickered out.

"Well we can't exactly tell her to go home," exclaimed Tall defensively as Beard and Braid gave him looks. "Besides, she might help."

"She just didn't want to stay on Kamino anymore and we were the first way out that she saw," retorted Braid.

"In which case she probably won't stick with us very long. And she should be allowed to leave if she chooses," answered Tall.

"Yeah!" cried Boba, forgetting himself. The three Jedi started at him and he clapped his hands over his mouth. "Sorry," he started to say, and then stopped, but with his hands muffling his voice it came out as a grunt, rather than half a word.

Beard smiled falsely at him, and then leaned over and whispered to Tall. Boba obviously wasn't supposed to hear him, but he had extremely good ears.

"Qui-Gon, I respect your decisions, but I have to ask. How many pathetic life-forms are we going to pick up on this mission!"

Did you like it? Did you? Enough to review? Okay, sorry. I'm just in an annoying mood. I get like that when I have a cold, which I do. I guess it's my way of covering up my tiredness. Okay, back to the point. Child-of-Dawn, Jedi Ha-Li and Ellenlome reviewed, bringing me up to forty-six, and very happy. Child-of-Dawn: I got your pathetic life-form joke in there. Hope you enjoyed it! Jedi Ha-Li: Was this far enough away from AOTC for you? Don't worry; I'll try to keep it like this, or at least not quite as close as before. It's swerving away. Slowly, but it's still swerving. Just a slow swerve.


	14. Why?

Qui-Gon Jinn smirked slightly at the confused looks his Padawan kept shooting him. Perhaps Obi-Wan's comment about pathetic life-forms wasn't quite as funny as he had acted like it was (especially considering that he'd heard it literally a million times while his friend was a Padawan) but now he certainly wasn't going to explain. After all, it might hurt Taun We and Boba's feelings. And he enjoyed keeping Anakin in the dark, although never on anything important. He wasn't _mean_, just… evil. In a mischievous sort of way.

"We're approaching Coruscant," Anakin announced. He shot Qui-Gon another look. "You're never going to tell me what was so funny, are you?"

"Maybe when you're older," answered his master smoothly then paused. "Actually, no. I'm not going to tell you at all."

Anakin looked annoyed, and then turned to Obi-Wan. "Was he ever this bad for you?" demanded the Padawan.

"Actually, Anakin, the appropriate question here would be: 'was he ever _not_ this bad for you?' And no, he wasn't."

"Evil through and through," announced Qui-Gon, giving a half-bow. That was extremely difficult, as he was sitting down, but he managed without banging his head.

"Riiiiiight," said Anakin, unconvinced.

They landed the ship with minimal traffic problems, and proceeded to the Council Chambers. Qui-Gon explained their difficulties, and handed Boba off to the Jedi who would be bringing the boy to his father.

The slightly diminished group exited, painfully aware of their new addition. Taun We looked as if she felt a little out of place, and Obi-Wan and Anakin appeared uncomfortable discussing anything around her, making Qui-Gon wonder if he had been right to bring her along. Telling himself he was, the Jedi attempted to make conversation.

"So, Taun We," he began uncomfortably "why did you want to leave Kamino?" Then he mentally rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. That was a good thing to know, but would Taun We want to tell him? It would probably just create a bigger rift between the Jedi and the Kamioan.

"I didn't… agree with our self-isolation that was so central to the life of a Kamioan," explained Taun We. "I wanted to leave, but I didn't know where to go. None of us have left our home-planet for centuries."

"I see," answered Qui-Gon. He had already known that. This was getting them nowhere. But to his surprise, Anakin suddenly spoke up.

"When I was a boy, I never left _my_ home-planet, Tatooine, until Master Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan found me. Now I can hardly imagine staying on one planet for my entire life, but then it was the only future any of us had."

Taun We looked just as surprised as Qui-Gon was with the Padawan's sudden burst of empathy, but she answered politely. "I see. And Masters Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan took you with them when they left?"

Anakin nodded. "They, well, my master mostly, Obi-Wan was on the ship most of the time, they said I was Force-sensitive, meaning I could be a Jedi, and so I left with them."

Taun We instantly began asking questions about Tatooine, the Force, and the Jedi in general, and Anakin began answering. Obi-Wan looked surprised by this sudden friendships between the two, but then a considering look crossed his face and he began answering questions as well.

Qui-Gon watched the trio with a smile, glad that they were getting along at least well enough to explain what was happening to Taun We. Something told him that she would help very much with their investigation of the happenings on Kamino, and she would need to get along with the others to do so.

"I don't understand," she said, looking confused. "Why did this… Darth Maul _want_ to attack you?"

Qui-Gon sighed internally. She was rather naïve, but her ideas were good, if the incident on Kamino was any indication. The other Jedi seemed a little at loss for words.

"Because he's a Sith, and the Sith hate the Jedi," explained Qui-Gon.

"Why?" Qui-Gon paused. "Well…" he paused again, sympathizing at his speechless companions. "Sith and Jedi are ancient enemies…"

"Why?"

"Because… Because they don't agree," offered Obi-Wan, looking as confused as Qui-Gon felt. He revised his opinion on Taun We. She wasn't naïve, she was just extremely curious about things most people took for granted.

"Sith use the Dark Side of the Force, while Jedi use the Light," explained Anakin, looking much more composed than the others, although Qui-Gon knew him well enough to see that he was just as confused as his elders were.

"And?" asked Taun We, adding as an afterthought, "Why?"

Everyone blinked. "Are you doing this on purpose?" asked Qui-Gon, and Taun We answered, "Why?"

There was another confused pause, and then the three Jedi burst out laughing. "Wow, Obi-Wan," exclaimed Anakin. "She's almost as annoying as you are!"

Taun We seemed to take that as a compliment, as Obi-Wan added, "Yeah!"

Okay, short one. I'll make it up to you eventually. Thanks to Ellenlome, Alley Parker, and Child-of-Dawn for your reviews. By the way, Ellenlome, the beginning was based off your suggestion. I don't think it would have been overkill, I just didn't think of it.

So anyway, this one was a little more lighthearted than usual, I've been in a silly mood lately. And my brother has a game today, so… no, I'm not even going to suggest it. Every time I say I might get two out, I don't, and every time I say I won't I do. So I won't. But don't take it for granted that I won't means I will, because I might not even though I said I won't. Okay, I'll just shut up before I confuse myself any further. Just ignore most of this last paragraph. Except the beginning. And the part that said to ignore it except the beginning. And the part that said not to ignore the part that said to ignore… shutting up.


	15. From A Senator's Point of View

"Ow! Let go of me!" Padmé Amidala cried, kicking one of the thugs in the face. Maybe taking a walk by herself in Lower Coruscant wasn't such a good idea. Especially when she looked so rich, and such a good target for thieves and muggers.

The man stumbled back, then raised his fist angrily, snarling. His four friends gathered around him, ganging up on Padmé. She moved into a fighting stance, wishing she had a weapon, or at least knew a bit more how to fight these gangsters.

She heard a noise from behind her, somewhere between a zap and a buzz, and the men's eyes widened. "Leave this woman alone and you will not be harmed," a soft, dangerous voice said from the same position as the noise. The thugs scattered.

Padmé stood her ground, refusing to turn and acknowledge the new person behind her. Putting on a brave face, she tried to hide her internal fear. What did this man want from her? Had he saved her because she was in danger, or because he was about to start on her?

"Senator Amidala, you should not be this far from your apartment," said the voice, sounding less dangerous now. Padmé started, wondering if she recognized the voice correctly, and forced herself to turn around.

"Padawan Skywalker," she gasped, trying to regain her composure.

Anakin grinned. "Surprised to see me?" he asked cheerfully.

"No! Well, yes." Padmé finally calmed herself down. "Thank you for your assistance," she began, but Anakin waved her gratitude away before she could finish.

"It _is_ what the Jedi do. It's part of our lifestyle, part of our trade. I'm glad I could help, but you still shouldn't be this far away from home and by yourself as well."

Padmé gasped indignantly. "Don't think I can't take care of myself, Anakin Skywalker!" she exclaimed.

"Of course, you were doing just _fine_ before I arrived," retorted Anakin sarcastically.

"I was! You can't have known what would have happened!"

"I'm a Jedi. We're _supposed_ to know what is about to happen. It's why we have such good reflexes."

"I know that!"

Anakin looked surprised. This wasn't common knowledge. "How?"

Padmé fidgeted, unsure of what to say, but finally admitted, "I… overheard Master Jinn talking to your mother, before you left Tatooine. He said it was a Jedi trait."

"I see," Anakin muttered. Padmé tried to take his mind off it.

"It must be hard, living with the Jedi, following their lifestyle."

"Yes," admitted Anakin. "But I try to do things the way other Padawans do. I have to, more than anyone."

"Why?" asked Padmé curiously. Her interest was only heightened when Anakin fidgeted for a moment, and glanced away before answering, "It's a long story."

"I'd like to hear it," answered the Senator.

"Well," Anakin began. "I… promise you won't tell Master Qui-Gon I told you? Or Obi-Wan?"

Padmé was even more intrigued now. "I promise."

"Well, as it turns out, this isn't exactly reality. Obi-Wan's been having these visions, you see, about the way things 'really' happened, except I'm not sure what they mean by real anymore. Apparently, all that stuff that happened with the Federation ten years ago? With them blocking trade from Naboo?"

Padmé nodded, remembering that period in history all too well. Anakin, seeing her comprehension, continued.

"Well, that was supposed to have happened one year later, and apparently, something would have happened to during that one year that would have stopped me from shooting Darth Maul. Maybe there wouldn't have been a blaster there, or I would have learned not to shoot people. But whatever it was, Qui-Gon died a few days later when we tried to retake Naboo."

As Anakin explained about the 'true' story, Padmé found a relatively clean place in the alleyway to sit down. Unaware of her confusion, the Padawan continued to tell her about the clones and Jango Fett, the incident on Geonosis, their secret marriage (both Anakin and Padmé turned very red at this point) and Anakin's eventual turning.

"So you see, I have to stick very closely to the Jedi Code, or else I'll end up on the Dark Side. And that would be very bad."

"Yes, I noticed," muttered Padmé. Anakin grinned. "I suppose you would have. Sorry."

"How does Obi-Wan know all of this? I mean, it seems an awful lot to digest."

"Well, he's had Qui-Gon and I to help him understand it. We know the visions almost as well as he does by now. And he was having them for over a year. He just suddenly started getting them five years after the thing on Naboo, and had them for a year. Then they stopped for four, and started up just recently."

"I see," muttered Padmé, utterly confused. Then she added, "so this isn't reality, what should have happened was, right?"

Anakin nodded. "Right."

"So if this isn't real, then it doesn't matter what happens, does it?"

"We're not sure," admitted Anakin. "If this is just some sort of trick, then it could shut down any minute and we wouldn't exist anymore. But if it completely _isn't_ real, then how can we think and feel?"

Padmé shrugged. "Well, whether this is real or not, we've never known anything else. So if it's not real, then how do we know thinking and feeling isn't the product of something that is fake?"

Anakin seemed a bit surprised by her reasoning, but only said, "Master Qui-Gon thinks that this is sort of a second chance for us, to stop all the horror that could have happened. He thinks that this is just as real as anything else, to us, and that's what matters."

"Second chances are good," answered Padmé, at loss for anything else to say. Then she added, "Master Qui-Gon seems very wise."

"Oh he is," answered Anakin happily. "I've never known anyone wiser, even Master Yoda."

Padmé smiled a little at the Padawan's eagerness. He obviously cared a lot about his master. "Anakin," she said as a sudden thought occurred to her. "If _I_ shouldn't be away this long, what are _you_ doing out here?"

"Rescuing you," Anakin responded dryly. Then he grinned and added more seriously, "Master Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Taun We and I were talking to Dex about the incident on Kamino. He knows more about the universe than _anyone_ I know, and if anyone can find out who was on Kamino who shouldn't be, he will."

"And that explains what you're doing here?" asked Padmé skeptically.

"No, not really," admitted Anakin. "I got bored and wandered off, when I found you. So now the question is: what are _you_ doing here?"

Padmé smiled sheepishly. "I got bored too. After the assassination attempt that you saved me from (I suppose that was because of Obi-Wan's visions too) I've been under more security than ever. It's a little stifling, to tell you the truth. I ended up slipping past the guards and taking a walk. Not the best idea I've ever had, as you can see."

"Yes, I noticed," muttered Anakin. "Would you like me to escort you back?"

"No, thank you," answered Padmé. "As I said before, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

Haha! I _did_ get two out today! Hahaha! Okay, I'm sane again. Mikey15 reviewed in the three hours since I last posted. Well, now Padmé knows what's going on as well. Maybe the responsible one in their marriage knowing what'll happen if they _do_ marry will make it a bit more likely that they'll survive? Or will she just make this more confusing? After all, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan _and_ the council all chose not to tell her. Was there a reason, or did they just forget about her? Find out in the next installment of… The Story Who's Title Has Nothing to do With the Plot! Okay, I'm sane again. By the way, in case anyone cares about random facts, this was originally supposed to be a one-post. Yeah, didn't work the way I thought it would have. What? I needed a plot!


	16. In and Out of a Diner

"Anakin, where _were _you!" demanded Obi-Wan angrily as the Padawan walked into the diner. He stopped himself short from telling his friend he had been worried about him, saying instead, "Qui-Gon and Taun We are searching the city for you! They thought you'd been kidnapped!"

"And of course you didn't believe a word of it and you weren't worried at all," Anakin teased, cocking one eyebrow.

Obi-Wan sighed. "That's not the point, young man. Where on Coruscant _were_ you all this time? You were supposed to be back _hours_ ago! Now what?" He noticed that Anakin, instead of looking properly abashed, was stifling laughter.

"Do you have any idea how… _parental_ that just sounded?" demanded the Padawan, losing his battle for seriousness.

Obi-Wan turned red. "Of course I didn't. I certainly doubt children give their parents as much trouble as Padawans give their masters."

"Says you," retorted Anakin.

"Yes, says I," snapped Obi-Wan. "Masters are responsible for _teaching_ their Padawan as well as raising them."

"But parents can't just shove them off in the corner and tell them to meditate any time of day. _And_ regular children don't have the discipline Jedi apprentices do. Plus there are _always_ other Jedi in the Temple to take them off your hands if you need to relax, _and_ you have extra bonding time when you go on missions. All in all, it's much better to be a Jedi Master than a parent."

"How would _you_ know! You've never been either. And don't think you can change the subject, mister. I still want to know where you went on your little 'walk' that caused you to be out so long."

Anakin pouted, or did something similar. "I ran into Senator Amidala…"

"_Anakin_! Don't you know what's at stake here!"

"Yes, I do! Just let me finish!" Anakin cried, almost as angrily as Obi-Wan had. "She was being mugged so I helped her, and then I walked her back to her apartment. I didn't even go in! Nothing happened."

"There's a large gap in there somewhere," scolded Obi-Wan. "It still shouldn't have taken you that long!"

"We talked a little bit," admitted Anakin. "But she was asking me questions! I couldn't just _not_ answer them!"

"What _sort_ of questions?" demanded Obi-Wan. Anakin swallowed. "Just about living with the Jedi. Nothing really."

"I thought you _had_ to answer questions when they were asked."

"I _did_! It wasn't anything important!"

"Then _why_ do you look so guilty?"

"Well…" Anakin muttered, but he didn't have time to duck the question anymore.

"**_ANAKIN_**! I thought we told you to _stay away_ from her! Don't you care about the _entire_ UNIVERSE! Don't you…"

"Obi-Wan, please, people are staring. You're not supposed to tell the entire diner. So hypocritical, you can't do what you're yelling at me for doing."

Obi-Wan calmed himself down a little, but caught the last bit. "_You told her?_" he demanded angrily, although not shouting this time. "Anakin, what were you _thinking_?"

"I _had_ to! She forced it out of me! I didn't have a choice!"

"How could she have forced something out of you if she didn't know what it was? She shouldn't have known there was anything _to_ force out of you!"

"Obi-Wan, come _on_. Let's go home and you can yell at me there. We still have to find Master Qui-Gon and Taun We. Although maybe if you yell at me again, they'll here you. Of course, Taun We's family on Kamino might as well, so…"

Anakin's ploy worked, and Obi-Wan furiously followed him out the door. But only the first part of the plan worked.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan reminded him. "We both have telepathic _bonds_ with Qui-Gon. It shouldn't be too hard to find him."

Anakin sighed. He had been hoping that Obi-Wan would spend so much time searching for the other two, he'd forget all about it. It had been a long shot, and it hadn't worked.

"Right." _Qui-Gon? Where are you?_

_Anakin? Where are _you_? Taun We and I've been look all over for you. I tried to contact you through our bond, but you were blocking me out. _

_Sorry, Master, I didn't mean to._

_Oh, well, we'll talk about this later. Obi-Wan's waiting for you outside Dexter's Diner. Go find him and we'll meet you there._

_Looks like he got cold, when I found him he was _inside

_Doesn't matter. We'll meet you inside or outside the diner, got it?_

_Yes Master._

_Good. See you there._

"Well?" demanded Obi-Wan, looking up at his friend.

"He's coming," answered Anakin. "I still don't see why _you_ couldn't have talked to him."

"You'll understand when you're older."

"Now you're just being mean!"

"Yes I am. Come on, I'm cold, let's go inside."

"Oh by the way," added Anakin as they entered the diner. "Qui-Gon said you were supposed to wait outside for me."

"I got cold."

"Oh, so a few moments of comfort count more to you than the life of you're best friend's Padawan?"

"I never said that."

"You said you thought I'd been kidnapped, or worse."

"I said _Qui-Gon and Taun We_ thought you'd been kidnapped, minus the worse."

"You're putting words in my mouth."

"Excuse me?" demanded Obi-Wan. "Last time I checked, _you_ were putting words in _my_ mouth!"

"Oh, there you go again!"

Obi-Wan laughed, then said, "Okay, you're funny. But that doesn't prevent me from telling your master what you told Padmé."

Anakin sighed and muttered, "Sith."

"_Anakin…_"

"I mean, darn."

Heehee! I got a chapter up before my family got up! I'm such an early bird. Anyway, it was Black's Phoenix who suggested that Anakin escort her to her apartment, and gave me the idea for this chapter. So… I'm going to start giving it something to do now, such as have the plot actually develop. I haven't done that in a while. Who knows, maybe I'll even find out who attacked Taun We. Or maybe I'll just leave you in misery to wonder. Bwahahahahahaha!


	17. A New Vision

"Well, now that we've all finished yelling at Anakin, do you think we can tell him what we found?" asked Taun We as the two older Jedi sat down and scowled at the boy. The four were in Qui-Gon and Anakin's apartments a few hours later. It was getting very late at night, but Obi-Wan was too angry to go home yet, and Taun We didn't want to be the first to leave, especially in the middle of a conversation.

"_Thank_ you," answered Anakin, relieved.

Obi-Wan gave Taun We a confused look. "I didn't know we'd found anything," he said quizzically.

"We didn't," she admitted. "But we did get Dex to promise to look into the transport records on Kamino, and 'what we found' sounds a lot more impressive than 'what we got Dex to promise to help us find when he gets the time.'"

"Wait a minute," complained Anakin. "Why couldn't _you_ just have looked into it?"

Taun We shifted in her seat sheepishly. "Well, after you left to go find Boba, I asked Lama Su if I could go with you…"

"We _know_ that part," said Anakin impatiently. "That doesn't explain anything."

"If you want explanations, Padawan, you have to let the person explaining finish what they were explaining in the first place," retorted Qui-Gon, then gestured for Taun We to continue.

"Thank you," said the Kamioan. "As I said, I asked Lama Su for permission to accompany you, and he denied it."

"_What_!" cried all three together. "I thought you had _gotten_ the permission!" exclaimed Obi-Wan. "After all, you _came_!"

"Kamioans don't like to leave their home-planet, and they don't like others to leave it either," explained Taun We. "And Lama Su doesn't exactly keep requests like that confidential, so by today, the whole planet would think that I hated them all and wanted to betray them to their enemies."

"Wait a minute," said Qui-Gon. "I thought Kamioans didn't _have_ enemies."

"We don't. But you'd be surprised to see how quickly traitorous reasons for leaving are invented when someone wants out. I saw someone try to leave when I was a little girl. He didn't go after Lama Su said he couldn't, but everyone heard about it anyway. The last I heard of him, extremists were planning to murder him. They say they didn't, and Lama Su believes them, but then where'd he go? And why do some clones suddenly remember target practice? "

"That's awful!" a voice burst out suddenly. Everyone turned.

"Who's there?" demanded Obi-Wan, standing up and igniting his lightsaber.

Qui-Gon glared at him. "Obi-Wan…"

"Sorry, Master."

The voice started up again. "I thought _Ana-whatever_ was your Paddy-whatsit!"

By now, Taun We recognized it. "Boba, come out of there!"

Boba Fett crawled out of a cupboard and peeked his head around the corner, grinning. "Hi, Taun We," he said sheepishly.

"What are you _doing_ here?" she demanded, while the Jedi looked confused. She supposed they had to be, not knowing Boba and the tricks he could get up to.

"Plotting murder."

"Boba…"

"Eavesdropping."

Taun We sighed. "You _know_ saying what you were doing after saying something much worse isn't going to work on me!"

_A figure in rusty armor raised his gun and aimed it at a young man holding a lightsaber. The Jedi blocked his shots, leaping off the ship and onto a second one, landing with two other humans and a Wookie…_

Obi-Wan started, looking around at the others. They were still talking to Boba, and hadn't noticed his sudden lapse in concentration. He tugged on Qui-Gon's sleeve. "I need to talk to you," he said in response to his friend's questioning look. "It's important."

Another chapter, come and gone. Okay, I'll shut up now. So, Obi-Wan's back into getting visions, and he's seeing what's happening to Luke. You know, it's probably a little pointless that I recap the chapters at the end. I mean, you _read_ it, didn't you?

Anyway, reviewers are to be thanked. Storyteller Person, Alley Parker, Seylin, Black's Phoenix, Ellenlome (three times) and Satra.


	18. Too Many Things To Ponder

"Are you absolutely certain about this?" asked Qui-Gon for the fifth time. Obi-Wan nodded.

He and the other two Jedi were discussing his vision the next morning, while Taun We listened quietly from the sofa nearby where Boba lay sleeping. They had stayed up very late that night talking, and the next day, Obi-Wan and Taun We had returned for more talk, with Taun We bringing Boba, who, thanks to a small Force suggestion, had slept through both discussions.

"I was watching it and, although the man had Jango Feet's armor, I knew upon looking at him that it was Boba," answered Obi-Wan patiently.

"But you're sure it really was him, and not a vague impression left over from the shock of seeing him here?"

"I'm sure."

"You're certain? There's…"

"Master, I think he's sure," commented Anakin. Qui-Gon grinned.

"Whatever gave you _that_ idea, Padawan?"

"The question is," interrupted Taun We suddenly "what are we going to do about this?"

"Actually, the question is what does it mean," retorted Obi-Wan. She made a face at him, but agreed.

"It means that this story continues far past what we thought was the end," answered Qui-Gon. "It means that Boba Fett is given the chance to grow into the man his father was, and it means that there are some new forces at work here."

"The boy and girl and the Wookie?" asked Anakin. Qui-Gon nodded, but Obi-Wan added, "There might be something else here. All we really learned from this is that there's something more to it that we missed the first time."

"Should we inform the Council?" asked Anakin. Obi-Wan nodded, but Qui-Gon shook his head.

"Not until we have more information," the tall Jedi said quickly. "We didn't learn enough this time to matter."

"Yes we did," countered Obi-Wan. "We learned there's more. Even if we don't know how much more, or what it is, that's still enough to bring up quite a few questions, questions we can't ponder on our own."

"Can't or won't?" demanded Qui-Gon with surprising vehemence. Everyone looked stunned but Obi-Wan managed to answer, "can, but shouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Because it's too much. There are too many questions for the four of us to answer alone."

"Because the Council says there are too many? Or because there really are?"

"Master?" asked Anakin timidly. "Is something wrong?"

"No," snapped Qui-Gon, but his Padawan's trademark big mouth prevented him from accepting this.

"Yes there is."

"No there isn't."

"Yes there is."

"No, there isn't."

"No, there isn't."

"Yes-No there isn't."

"Si- drat."

"Anakin, there is nothing wrong, alright?"

"Yes there is."

"Would you two stop it?" demanded Taun We.

"No there isn't!"

"Yes there is!"

"Anakin, shut up. Master, tell us what's wrong or we'll let Anakin talk," interrupted Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon gave him a look. "You're concern is touching, Padawan, but you forget that I've had to put up with Anakin for the past ten years. I'm not going to tell you anything because he talks."

"Than tell us because _we're_ worried," retorted Obi-Wan.

That seemed to take his master aback, and he paused for a moment, long enough for the other two to get their faces into appropriate expressions.

"It's nothing," muttered Qui-Gon.

"Well either admit that it's something and tell us, or repeat that it's nothing and stop reacting to it," snapped Taun We, surprising everyone.

"Basically tell us what we want or don't talk," commented Anakin.

"I'm perfectly capable of speaking for myself, I don't need you to translate, Anakin Skywalker," retorted the Kamioan.

They laughed, lightening the mood enough for Qui-Gon to say: "I just have this feeling. Something my old Master said to… said to _me_ once. I don't think we should tell the Council just yet."

"What did he say?" asked Obi-Wan, curious.

"Nothing, really. It's not the Council I'm worried about. It's who _they_ might tell."

Before anyone could ask him what he meant, the door chime rang. "I'll get it!" shouted Anakin, jumping up. The older Jedi chuckled.

"Sometimes I think about how much he's grown in the past ten years," commented Qui-Gon. "And then he opens his mouth and I realize he hasn't at all."

"Hasn't what?" muttered Boba, woken up by Anakin's crashing about. Again, the conversation was interrupted, this time by Anakin and their guest.

"Hey, boys!" called Dex. "I found the ship you're looking for. You're never going to guess where else you've seen it."

The three Jedi crowded around, with Taun We peering over their heads and Boba trying to wiggle between Qui-Gon and Anakin.

"You're right," said Obi-Wan. "I wouldn't have."

You're never going to guess how many total pages this is! Fifty! That's the longest thing I've ever written. (The second was forty-eight.) So anyway, sorry for the break, I had to plan out what's gonna actually happen. I think I've got it now, so I shouldn't have to think for the next few chapters, just write. See, I've got a plot piece that should last me a while, then a few vague plans, and I'm not sure how to end it. Ideas would be appreciated. Speaking of appreciated, the reviewers this time are: Seylin, Satra, doreenthatshot, Phoenix Red Lion, Ellenlome, and Fell Dragon. Thank you, and have a nice day/night/alternate timeline/whenever you read this


	19. The Return of the Sith

"I don't understand," muttered Taun We for the fifteenth time. "He's supposed to be dead."

"And I _really_ don't understand," complained Boba, sounding more and more like Anakin with each passing moment. "Who is 'he', and why's he such a problem?"

Everyone ignored him.

Obi-Wan stared out at the sunset from the balcony, only half listening to the conversation through the open door. When they had begun their search for the ship, he had never expected this. How could he? They had simply gone to Dex's Diner hoping that he would have some information as to who had attacked Taun We. They had asked him what ship was there that shouldn't be, and waited for an answer. He had never expected anything this horrible.

But what had he expected? Another bounty hunter? Or some terror he couldn't begin to guess at? Well that was what he'd gotten. Old enemies have a way of sneaking up on you, even years later. And Obi-Wan Kenobi had just met the worst of them.

After all the surprises that Obi-Wan had gotten that night, the least of them was hearing footsteps behind him and sensing his old master's presence. "Hello," he muttered, hoping Qui-Gon would take the hint in his tone and go away.

The older Jedi read his tone right, but took a different, subtle message in it that Obi-Wan hadn't even meant to send, and leaned on the railing besides him. "Five years ago," he said softly.

"What?"

"Five years ago, I stood on this balcony talking to Anakin and sensed something wrong in the Force. I turned around just in time to see you fall. But not in time to stop you from landing. What was that you were always saying as a boy? About falling and landing?"

Obi-Wan managed a tight smile, as false as it looked. "It's not the fall I'm against. It's the part about landing."

Qui-Gon laughed. "You always were a strange child, Obi-Wan. Always seemed older than you really were."

"Should I take that as a compliment?" teased his friend.

The tall man looked serious. "I certainly hope you do. But then, what we hope makes very little difference, does it not? Or our 'friend' would not have returned."

"I'm afraid," admitted Obi-Wan. To anyone but Qui-Gon, he would have denied it, but he trusted his mentor impeccably.

"You would be a fool not to be," Qui-Gon left it at that.

"What will we do?"

"That depends," The other Jedi turned to Obi-Wan, his eyes as solemn as they had ever been. "He seems to have found a way to disguise his Force signature, or I would not have thought him dead so many years ago. And from what I can tell, this time he'll have help."

"Master?"

"I had a vision, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said softly.

"Of what?" Obi-Wan was concerned. He was too attached, Qui-Gon reflected. The council wouldn't approve, and normally, Qui-Gon would have gone up against them, but he had seen Obi-Wan's pain after his master's death, and wondered how good this could be.

"Of my master, Dooku. He… he was fighting."

"Fighting who? Master, are you alright?"

Qui-Gon was leaning heavily against the railing, his eyes shadowed. "He was fighting you and Anakin. He had become a Sith."

Obi-Wan's silence was almost frightening. The younger man stared out at the buildings, his face expressionless, but Qui-Gon knew him too well to buy that. It didn't help the charade when Obi-Wan's voice cracked as he said "so now we have two to fight. A master and an apprentice."

But Qui-Gon shook his head. "No, I think it may be different. I believe that Dooku had become the apprentice after Maul's death. Now, he is not a Sith, but I believe that he will fight us anyway."

"But you were his _Padawan_! He can't hurt you!"

"He can, Obi-Wan. He can and he will. And even if he won't, we must remember, there are two."

"We must find the Sith lord." Obi-Wan straightened up, a clear purpose in his eyes. "Only then can this be stopped!"

"You cannot defeat all evil in the galaxy, Padawan," Qui-Gon said, looking amused.

Obi-Wan turned to his friend, smiling. "And you cannot rescue all the strays in the galaxy, Master."

"I know, Padawan," Qui-Gon whispered, all trace of amusement gone from his worn face. "I know."

"Master," began Obi-Wan hesitantly, feeling like a child, "Will we go after the Sith?"

"Yes, my friend. No matter who Dooku is, we cannot let him endanger those we are sworn to protect."

"You mean everyone in the universe?"

"Yes. The Sith Lord must be tracked down, and we cannot let Darth Maul escape again."

Okay, a bit short, but I have all weekend to build on this plot twist. And yes, I _did_ plan this the entire time. Or at least, I think I did. Thank you, Ellenlome, who reviewed. Please review people! I'm almost to seventy. That would be nice… hint hint.

And to a suggestion I received in a review, I _might_ bring Jar Jar back. Might. Hey, we'll need some humor what with the way it's going. Happy birthday, peoples whose birthday it is. That was random.


	20. Obi Wobi Kenobiobi

"_Excuse_ me!"

"I _said_, 'you are _not_ coming!"

"I _am_ coming!" Taun We glowered angrily at Qui-Gon. The other two Jedi stood nervously in the background, deciding to leave the young cloner up to the oldest of the three.

"No, you are not."

"Yes, I am!"

"Taun We," Qui-Gon ran his fingers through his long, graying hair. "Two Jedi Knights weren't able to overcome him without one dying, what makes you think a Kamioan with _no_ fighting experience whatsoever could survive?"

"Three things. One: that incident was in an alternate universe. Two: One of the Jedi was a Padawan. And Three: he was killed by an eight year old boy!"

"_Almost_ killed," corrected Anakin from the background. "I didn't quite kill him."

"You were close," Taun We turned her attention back to Qui-Gon.

"Either way, I'm coming."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am. I am coming and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Taun We, I don't care if I have to tie you to your bed and leave you there without food for the entire duration of this mission, but _you are not coming_!"

"I _am_ too! If you try to tie me down to the bed, well, then we'll have an extra bed along."

"I will _not_ be responsible for your death! You are _not_ coming!"

"I _am_ coming!" I am, and you can't stop me!"

"No, you are not!"

"I _will_ come and that's final!"

"You will _not_ come and _that's_ final!"

The other two Jedi watched in amazement. "I think," muttered Obi-Wan to his friend, "that our Master has finally found someone as stubborn as he is."

Anakin flashed him a grin. "We'll see. How do you think this'll turn out?"

"I'm going for Qui. As stubborn as Taun We is, he's had more chance to get more stubborn."

"So what?" demanded Boba suddenly from the couch where he was curled up. "He's old, big deal! I've never met anyone stubborner than Taun We!"

"That's more stubborn, kid," Anakin didn't event take his eyes off the argument.

"Whatever. Why are you calling _me_ kid? It's _your_ name."

"Huh?" Now both Jedi turned to the little boy, completely lost.

"Your name is Annie-Kid. So why are you calling _me_ kid?"

Obi-Wan burst out laughing. "Shut up," retorted Anakin.

"Alright, Annie-Kid. If you say so."

Angrily, Anakin turned back to Boba. "I call you _kid_ because you _are_ a kid."

"Hey, I snuck away from the person who was supposed to be watching me, _and_ found Taun We in all of Coruscant!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm not so much of a _kid_ anymore!"

"And _my_ name isn't Annie-Kid!"

"It isn't?" now Boba was confused. "Then what is it?"

"It's _Anakin_!"

"Anna-Kid?"

"No, _kin_, Ana_kin_!"

"Anna-Ken?"

"I think we need to have his hearing checked," muttered Obi-Wan, but nobody heard him.

"Close enough." Anakin was struck with a sudden inspiration. "Hey, Boba? What do you think _his_ name is?"

"Obi-Wobi Kenobi-obi," Boba answered promptly.

"And _his?_" Anakin pointed at Qui-Gon.

"Q-something-byebye."

Both Jedi laughed. "Qui-Gon Jinn," corrected Obi-Wan, sniggering.

"Huh?" asked Qui-Gon, momentarily distracted from the argument.

"I _am_ coming!"

"Pie-go Jennie"

"No, you're not!"

"What about… Yoda?"

"Yes I am!"

"Soda?"

"No, you're not!"

"Mace Windu?"

"Yes I am!"

"Face's Window?"

No, you're not!"

"Ki-Adi Mundi?"

"Yes I am!"

"Key-Limeade Monday?"

"No, you're not!"

"Are you doing this on purpose?"

"Fine, be that way!"

"Yeah. Hey, it's fun!"

"Hey guys," Obi-Wan interrupted the two. "I think Qui-Gon just won."

"Told you!" cried Anakin gleefully.

Boba frowned. "Odd. He must be really stubborn."

"That, my friend," said Obi- Wan, "Is an understatement."

When I said it was going to get a bit more serious, did you actually believe me? This chapter is proof enough that it'll stay as insane as me. Hope you enjoyed it! Thank you, Seylin, Alley Parker, Kazza Ellenlome and Satra for reviewing.


	21. The Mostest Worstest Place

"I feel a little guilty about leaving Taun We behind," admitted Anakin as he put the ship on autopilot and turned to his friends.

"You'd feel even guiltier if we took her and she died," retorted Qui-Gon icily. "We _know_ what this man's capable of."

"I hope she's not too mad," continued his Padawan, ignoring him.

"She barely spoke to us after you made her stay behind," agreed Obi-Wan, turning to Qui-Gon.

"_I_ made her stay behind? If I remember correctly, you two were all for it, you just didn't want to tell her!"

"I'm surprised _you_ did," retorted Anakin. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?" He put his hand to Qui-Gon's forehead, and the tall Knight pushed it away, laughing. The three Jedi returned to their usual, lighthearted state, the solemn mood forgotten.

"What's that?" asked Obi-Wan, pointing to the sensors. Still grinning, his companions looked at the screen. A ship was approaching them, slowing down as it got closer.

"Darth Maul's ship?" asked Anakin, his hands straying to the ship's weapons. But Qui-Gon shook his head.

"Too small. It looks like…" he paused, as if unsure of his accuracy, but Obi-Wan finished the sentence for him.

"It's Taun We's ship!"

Anakin smiled. "Looks like _someone's_ more stubborn than we give her credit for."

Qui-Gon hit the comm. button, and called into it, "Taun We?"

"It's me, Qui," answered the Kamioan's voice. "How're you doing?"

"Fine," muttered Qui-Gon, looking a little confused, and then returned to his normal train of thought. "What are you doing here?"

"Following you. I should think that's obvious. Oh, and I brought some friends who also wanted to come along."

"Who?" asked Obi-Wan, exchanging glances with Anakin.

"Obi! Qui! Little Ani! Hello, boyos!" cried a voice suddenly.

"Jar Jar?" asked Qui-Gon incredulously. "Why did _you_ want to come?"

"He says it's to protect me," answered a woman's voice. "But _I_ think he was just bored."

"Pa- Senator Amidala?" asked Anakin, even more confused than his master.

"And me!" cried a third voice.

"Boba?" moaned Obi-Wan.

"Three out of three for the Jedi," put in Taun We. "Every guess was correct. Mind if we come aboard?"

"No," said Obi-Wan.

"Yes," said Qui-Gon at the same time. "In case you have forgotten, Taun We, you are _not_ coming."

"However, as I already _have_ come, and I do have a ship to follow you in, it seems irrelevant as to whether you want me to come or not. I already came."

"Yes, but…"

"And by the way, I did _not _bring Boba, in case you were wondering. He stowed away on our ship. He knew we were going to leave without being told. He's smarter than _some_ people."

"Hey, it's not _our _fault," snapped Anakin. "We're used to people _following orders_. New concept for you?"

"Actually, no. But, in case you forget, I'm Kamioan. I neither belong to the Jedi Order, nor to the Republic. You don't have any authority over me, so I can come whether you order me to or not."

"But…" Qui-Gon was running out of arguments.

"We'll follow you either way, so you might as well spare yourself a dispute and let us come," put in Padmé.

"Yeah!" added Boba.

"I thought that was my line," muttered Obi-Wan. Again, nobody heard him.

"I'm sorry, Taun We, but you are _not_ coming," retorted Qui-Gon. "So why don't you just take these people home and…"

"Sorry, Qui. I'm coming. I'm already here, and I'm going the rest of the way with you whether you like it or not. I'm coming; I came, live with it."

"You might as well let her on, Master," whispered Anakin. "I don't think she'll go away, and if she's with us, we have a better chance of protecting them."

Qui-Gon glared at him, but when Obi-Wan added, "he's right. You're not going to win either way, might as well let them on," he knew he was outnumbered.

"Alright, you can come," he muttered. "But you'd better stay out of trouble, because I won't be responsible for your stupidity."

"Of course you won't," teased Taun We, knowing Qui-Gon too well to accept that. "You'll just abandon us as soon as we get into the smallest bit of trouble."

"That's right," retorted Qui-Gon, joking now. "I'll dump you on the ice mines of Hoth."

"Or in a Tuskan Raider's slave camp on Tatooine," added Taun We. "No offense, Anakin."

"None taken."

"Or in the oceans of Kamino during a storm. It gets pretty bad there," put in Boba.

"We were _there_ during a storm," answered Anakin.

"No you weren't. That was a nice day by Kamioan standards."

"Or in the mostest worstest place on the mostest worstest planet!" cried Jar Jar.

"Or in the middle of a meeting of the Senate," put in Padmé.

"No, even I couldn't be that cruel," responded Qui-Gon. "That kind of torture is inhuman."

"And yet, for some reason, I voluntarily go into every day. I must be insane."

"We all are, Senator. We all are."

Well, with Jar Jar, Boba, Taun We, the Jedi, _and_ Padmé, they'll probably defeat Darth Maul by driving him crazy. All we need is little Anakin and they'll be unstoppable. Thank you, Ellenlome and Alley Parker for reviewing. Please review, speaking of which.


	22. To Track a Sith

"Boba, does your father know you're here?" asked Obi-Wan a few hours later.

"No. But since he's in jail, that shouldn't be a problem, should it?"

"Yes, it still should," corrected Qui-Gon.

"Don't worry about it," answered Taun We. "I sent a message to the Jedi Temple, asking them to tell him where his son was."

"Wouldn't they be mad that you didn't turn back after finding him?" asked Anakin.

"No. It was impossible, after all. There was a very nasty ion storm between us and Coruscant. We couldn't turn back without endangering everyone on bored."

"Really? We didn't see any ion storm."

"It must have… conveniently appeared out of our imaginations," answered Taun We innocently.

"I see," muttered Qui-Gon, grinning.

"How did _you_ end up coming, Senator Amidala?" asked Anakin suddenly. "I didn't know you _knew_ we were leaving."

"Are you sure you didn't _tell_ her?" asked Obi-Wan acidly, but, as usual, everyone ignored him.

"Well, as a Senator, I try to keep up on what people like the Jedi are doing while I'm on the planet. I had heard that you were leaving, and when I heard that Taun We was asking for a ship, well, I asked her where she was going…"

"When she found out that I was following you, she asked to come. Jar Jar just sort of… showed up, and Boba stowed away," added Taun We.

"Wait," Anakin was still confused. "You _told_ her that you were going to follow us?"

"Well, as you know, Anakin, Padmé has a way of getting information out of people," said Taun We, just as acidly as Obi-Wan.

"Not again!" complained the younger Jedi. "When are you people going to leave me alone about that?"

"When Tatooine freezes over and banthas fly," said Obi-Wan.

"Leave him alone about what?" asked Boba, mystified.

"Anakin told Padmé about Obi-Wan's visions," explained Taun We.

"Oh," said Boba.

"Wait a minute, Taun We," Qui-Gon said suddenly. "How does _Boba_ know about that?"

"Uhh…" Taun We paused. "Don't have an answer to that. Sorry."

"Is there anyone who _doesn't_ know?" demanded Obi-Wan, who would have preferred _nobody_ know about it at all.

"Mesa," said Jar Jar.

"Thank yousa," said Obi-Wan, and then paused, befuddled. "Wait…"

"Great. Now you're talking like a Gungun," complained Anakin.

"Yeah, well if you don't have anything better to do than complain, then maybe you should learn another… dialect yourself!" retorted Obi-Wan.

"Don't you mean 'yousa's self'?"

"Yousa… You know what I mean!"

Everyone laughed, and then Boba pointed at a screen. "What's that?"

"A banana," answered Anakin randomly.

"What's a banana?" asked Taun We.

"You need to get out more," commented Padmé.

"But _what's_ a banana?"

"Not that. That's Darth Maul's ship," said Qui-Gon, getting all of their attention.

"_What?_" demanded Obi-Wan, leaning in for a closer look.

"It is, isn't it?" pointed out Anakin.

"How close is it?" asked Taun We, trying to figure it out for herself all the while.

"Too close," answered Qui-Gon, maneuvering the ship quickly. "Sit down, everyone."

Everyone sat.

"You can hide behind that asteroid there," Obi-Wan suggested, pointing at the rock.

Qui-Gon moved the ship into place, waiting. "Why hasn't he seen us yet?" asked Anakin.

"Count yousa's blessings!" exclaimed Jar Jar.

"Anakin's right," said Obi-Wan, looking as though it pained him to admit that. "He should be attacking us about now!"

No sooner had he said that then nothing happened.

"Odd," muttered Qui-Gon. He pressed a few buttons quickly. "There we go. Most of his systems are down, that's why he hasn't seen us. He's been fired on before."

"By who?" asked Padmé. The Jedi shrugged, unsure.

"He's moving off," pointed out Anakin.

"His present course should take him to a nearby planet called Geonosis," Obi-Wan calculated.

"Follow him at a distance," instructed Qui-Gon. "He'll be able to see us if we get to close."

"Which obviously means we shouldn't," commented Anakin.

"We'll have to eventually," Taun We pointed out.

"Not until we reach the planet," Qui-Gon answered. "Then we can get him."

"Good," muttered Obi-Wan, but nobody heard him.

Ohhh, look at all the pretty reviews by StarDrifter, Ellenlome, Satra, dmitchell, Child-of-the-Dawn, Seylin, A.Nu.Evil, Black's Phoenix, Storyteller Person, and Fell Dragon! Okay, sorry, that's my burst of too much candy. Anyway, I've got a bit more of the story planned out, and I'll be using _someone's_ plot suggestion, but I won't say whose. Maybe I'll use more than one, maybe I won't. Either way, the story will end _eventually_. Not anytime soon, but I know what'll happen. Sort of. And I'll probably end up forgetting and having to redo the whole thing… But either way, please review, hope you enjoyed it, yadda yadda ya.


	23. From a Sith's Point of View

Darth Maul grunted angrily and pounded on his console. The ship was spiraling out of control, just moments before he would have landed it on Geonosis. The meddling idiot who had inexplicably damaged the ship would pay… soon. First, he must destroy the Jedi who had injured him so badly ten years ago.

He hadn't seen who had fired the shot. He had been too absorbed with his opponent, but he knew. He knew that only two Jedi had gone on that mission: Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi. There had been another who _could_ have hit him, he had seen as he had fallen, but it was only a child. That child, he knew, was now a Jedi apprentice to Jinn, but he had only been a boy ten years ago, and could not possibly have been the one to have shot him.

His master wanted the child, Skywalker, alive. He would do that. But his master _didn't_ care what happened to Jinn and Kenobi. Both would die for the pain they had inflicted on him.

A large _thud_ announced his landing on Geonosis. Maul was thrown forwards and hit his heavily marked head, but was otherwise unharmed. He scowled at the ship and stood up, preparing to asses and fix the damage, when he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. A second ship was landing nearby. Grabbing his lightsaber and hoping to the Force it was friendly, he went to go investigate.

Out of the new ship stepped a man. He had long, gray and brown hair and beard, and intelligent eyes. Maul leaned forwards to see his face beyond the lion-like mane of hair and beard, and hissed angrily. Jinn.

A second man stepped out, with lighter hair and beard cut in the same, if shorter, style. Most likely Kenobi, he assumed. The third man was a Padawan, probably about eighteen. Maul assumed that this was Skywalker.

Quickly assessing the situation, Maul decided what to do. He could easily knock over Skywalker with a kick or a blow, which worked for his plan not to kill him. Jinn and Kenobi he could take care of, or perhaps block one out while fighting the other in his ship. It had worked many times before. He knew that if he took them one at a time, not only could he kill much easily, but he would also have an advantage over the second. A Jedi in danger whose friend has been killed will make mistakes, like a cornered animal.

But then a Gungan stepped out of the ship, nervously fidgeting. A woman followed him, and a Kamioan female, like the ones Dooku had described after his trip to their stormy planet. A young boy started to follow, but the Kamioan pushed him back in and shut the door, scowling at the Gungan as if she wanted to do the same to him.

There was a long pause as the two sides examined each other, but Jinn spoke first.

"We have you outnumbered and outgunned, Sith. Surrender now and you will not be harmed."

"Oh?" shot back Maul in his raspy voice. "And what would you do to me _then_?"

"Send you to pick flowers on Naboo," muttered Skywalker, and Maul suppressed a grin. _No laughing at the enemies' jokes_ he chided himself. _After we convince him to join us, he will be a pleasure to work with._

"We will put you on a fair trial…" began Kenobi, shooting Skywalker a half-amused, half-warning look.

"Fair?" barked Maul. "Since when are you Jedi ever _fair_? You exist solely to cheat _us_! To kill _us_! So don't try to make me believe you'll _ever_ be fair to one of _us_!"

All of them looked a little surprised at this outburst, but Jinn said evenly, "No one truly believes that they're evil."

"There _is_ a difference! I _know_ the Jedi are evil!"

"And yet if you asked one of us, even the smallest Padawan, they would say that they knew for a fact that the Sith are evil."

Maul quieted at that, and then answered, "I suppose there's no way of knowing, then, is there?"

Jinn looked surprised at his acceptance, and for a moment, Maul wished he didn't have to kill this man. But all Jinn said was, "Come back with us, and see the other side of things."

"No!" Now Maul was no longer sorry that he had to kill Jinn. He was a stubborn, close-minded, arrogant, drone-like _Jedi_. Nothing more. None of them were.

"Please," whispered Jinn, so only he could hear. "I don't want to kill you…"

"Jedi never care for the lives of a Sith," retorted Maul. "We're at war. It is what happens." He paused for a moment, and then said, just as quietly as Jinn had, "I'm sorry."

And then he ignited his lightsaber and swung it in a downwards arc towards Jinn. The Jedi made no move to block it, only stood there looking defeated.

His lightsaber was blocked suddenly by Skywalker. "How many times must I save your life, Master?" the young Jedi asked out of the corner of his mouth.

Jinn started at him for a second, confused, and then a small smile lit his face. "Once or twice more, Padawan," he said, igniting his own lightsaber.

But he didn't join the fray, finding no room to attack Maul after Kenobi slid in, swinging his weapon with a ferocity that surprised the Sith. First, as a Padawan, the man had shot him, and now he attacked him with more strength and anger than he had ever seen. What grudge did this Jedi have against him, and why couldn't Maul remember it?

If he had spared a glance at the others, he would have seen Jinn searching for an opening, the female gripping her blaster, unable to shoot, and the Kamioan looking worried. He would also have seen the little boy peeking out of the ship, and the Gungan getting distracted by a fly.

But he didn't, too busy fighting Kenobi and Skywalker. His plan to get Skywalker out of the way was thwarted by Kenobi's ferocity. There was no way he could spare the time for a kick or a blow to one side while being hounded so intensely from the other.

Finally, however, a loose pebble turned the tides in the battle. Skywalker stepped on it and stumbled, distracting Kenobi. Maul had to choose between two options, getting Skywalker out of the way, or killing Kenobi, when an idea came to him. If Kenobi was distracted by Skywalker stumbling, he would certainly pause, for a split second, if he was kicked down. Maul could accomplish both goals, his master's, and his own.

Darth Maul raised his foot to boot Skywalker over, when a small stone hit him in the back of the other knee and he collapsed. Before he had a chance to get up, however, he saw Kenobi's lightsaber swinging in a deadly arc towards his neck.

Maul paused, seeing the look of anger in Kenobi's eyes, and realized what it was coupled with. Fear.

-

Obi-Wan froze, watching the body of the Sith fall. He felt himself swaying, as if he, too, might plummet to the ground like so much of a corpse himself. He was dimly aware of the others coming towards them, and Qui-Gon gripping his shoulder in a consoling manner.

Someone was speaking, as if from a great distance away. "Why did he fall?" it was Anakin.

"Little yousa," answered Jar Jar, making _so_ much sense.

"What?"

"There," Padmé pointed at a nearby ridge. Upon it stood two small boys of about seven or eight. One did look very much like Anakin at that age, and the other could have been his brother. Obi-Wan frowned. The second boy looked very, very familiar.

Thank you, Seylin, Satra, Child-of-the-Dawn, and Ellenlome! Oh, and Ellenlome, you were right about Jar Jar, it is Gungan. I have yet to get around to fixing that and the board thing in the past chapters, but I got it right here. Anyway, another chapter will be up eventually, obviously. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten the systems bit. It'll come eventually. I like that word. Hope you liked the chappie. I like that word too. Blah.


	24. Stupid Names

"Would you _please_ come down?" Qui-Gon called up to the boys.

"No!" shouted the one who looked like Anakin.

Obi-Wan sighed in frustration. The two boys had been on the ridge for three hours, and the Jedi and their friends had spent the entire time trying to get them down. It wasn't working.

"What's your name?" asked Taun We.

"L—" began the second boy.

"Shhh!" ordered his friend. "We can't trust them!"

"Yes you can!" called Padmé, looking annoyed.

"No we can't" answered the first boy.

"Yes you can!"

"No we can't!"

"Yes you can!"

"No we can't!"

"Ye--- oh, forget it!" the Senator stormed off and sat down on a rock, watching Taun We plead with the boys.

"Alright, _why_ can't you trust us?" demanded the Kamioan, taking her friends by surprise.

The boys had a similar reaction. "Uhh, well…" began the first boy, but the second burst in before he could finish.

"Okay, so we _can_!"

"No we can't! We don't even know them!"

"You don't even know me, either!"

"Well… that's different. You're a kid."

"How do you know? How do you know I'm not a grown-up in disguise?"

"Uhh…"

"Wait, you don't even know each other?" demanded Anakin, surprised.

"No we don't!" called the second boy, and then turned to his friend. "Seriously, do you even know my name?"

"Uhh…"

"It's Luke! Luke Skywalker!"

"No it's not!"

"How would _you_ know?"

"Because _my_ last name's Skywalker too, and I don't have any relatives except my mother!"

As it was so obvious that the boy wasn't his friend's mother, they both paused for a moment.

"But _I_ don't have any relatives at all!" retorted Luke. "Except my Uncle Owen and Auntie Beru, but they're called Lars, not Skywalker.

"So… maybe we're, like, brothers or something? Except we never met?"

"Maybe. Where're you from?"

"Mon Espa. You?"

"That can't be right. I live on a moisture farm right outside of Mon Espa, and there're no Skywalkers _anywhere_ near me."

"Well, there're no Skywalkers at the moisture farm, either. And there _is_ no Beru, just Cliegg, and his son Owen."

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon looked at each other. "That _makes_ no _sense_," complained Anakin.

"Maybe it does," muttered Obi-Wan suddenly.

"What are you thinking, Padawan?" murmured Qui-Gon.

"I'm thinking that this is weird enough that maybe I could be right about this."

"Well that's specific," whined Anakin.

"Hush," ordered Taun We, never taking her eyes off Obi-Wan. "I think he's on to something."

"Hesa _always_ on to _some_thing!" cried Jar Jar. "But what hesa on to _now_?"

"Hey!" called Obi-Wan, ignoring his friends.

"What?" demanded the boy we don't know the name of yet.

"What's your name?"

"I _told_ you, it's Luke!"

"Not _you_! The other kid!"

"Ani!" called the second boy. "Ani Skywalker."

Down below, the others turned to stare at Anakin.

"What?" demanded the Padawan.

"Did you even hear what he said?" asked Padmé.

"Yes, I did. But that doesn't mean you should stare at me. Stare at _him_!"

"We are," muttered Qui-Gon.

"Huh?"

"We _are_ staring at him. Anakin, he's _you_."

"No, it's just a coincidence."

"Riiiight," put in Obi-Wan. "Just a coincidence that there happen to be _two_ Anakin Skywalkers, and a third Skywalker, and none of them have ever heard of each other, even though they're practically neighbors."

"Hey!" called Ani. "How'd you know my real name was Anakin?"

"Come down here and we'll tell you!" bargained Taun We.

"Why don't _you_ come up _here_?"

"Because we can't get up there," answered Qui-Gon.

"Well, what makes you think _we_ can get down?"

"Oh, Sith."

"Language, Anakin."

"What?"

"Not you, Anakin, the other Anakin."

"This is confusing."

"What?" called Taun We. "Haven't you ever been in a class with two people with your name?"

"Two _Anakins_? Are you _nuts_?"

"Well, in my science class when I was a girl, there were _three_ Taun Wes!"

"Three _Taun Wes?" _demanded Obi-Wan.

"Hey, it's a very common name!"

"_Sure_ it is," muttered the Jedi.

"Well, on Kamino anyway."

"Yeah, I guess. There were, like, five other Bens in my math class once."

"Five _other_ Bens, Padawan? Your name is Obi-Wan, how can there be five other _Bens_?"

"I dunno. The other kids used to call me Ben."

"Uhh… why?"

"I had a cold when I introduced myself, so it sounded like I was saying my name was 'Old Ben.'"

"Some cold. I've never known Obi-Wan to sound like Old Ben, no matter how stuffed up you were."

"Hey, there's an Old Ben near where I live," called Luke. "He's a hermit. Uncle Owen says he's senile. What's that mean?"

"Ask your mother," answered Padmé.

"Uhh, Padmé?" asked Obi-Wan.

"Yeah?"

"_It's a boy!"_

"_Luke."_

"Oh, nothing."

Well, what'd you think? Think… thank… reviewers! Just Jill, Satra, Ellenlome, Child-of-the-Dawn, Seylin, and Fell Dragon. I've gotta think up better ways to thank you guys. So anyway, now we've got a minor problem, what with Luke and Ani stuck up on top of the ridge, and Anakin being confused with their names. I probably don't need to recap the plot, do I? So… yeah. Hope you liked it!


	25. Families and Evil Triplets

"Okay, what about if you…"

"That won't work."

"How do you know?"

"Because none of your ideas have worked so far, so why should this be any different?"

"If you'd just _try_ my ideas…"

"But they never work."

"How would you know, you've never tried any of them!" Anakin was getting a little annoyed at… the other Anakin. Actually, everyone had decided to call the older one Anakin and the younger one Ani, to avoid confusion. It didn't help as much as one would like, but it still helped a little… sort of.

The Jedi, Taun We, Padmé, Jar Jar and Boba had spent the past hour trying to get Ani and Luke off the ridge. It wasn't working any better than the recent conversation suggests. In fact, it was worse.

"Boba, where are you going?"

"I'm trying to get them down."

"How?"

"I'm gonna climb up there…"

"NO."

"But Taun We…"

"She's right, Boba," pointed out Qui-Gon. "Getting up there is too dangerous."

"Then how'd _they_ get up there?" demanded the boy.

"The just appeared there."

"Master Qui-Gon, I'm not a child. You can tell me, instead of inventing strange stories about it. I'm not going to fall for them."

"Sadly, kid, he's telling the truth," called Ani from the ridge.

"Who're you calling kid, kid?"

"I'm calling you kid, kid!"

"Yeah, kid? Well I'm not a kid, kid!"

"Kidkid!" cried Jar Jar. "Mesa's daddy's sistahs kid is Kidkid!"

"Your cousin's name is Kidkid?" asked Obi-Wan incredulously.

"You should talk," laughed Anakin. "Everyone called you Old Ben. But you're real name's Obi-Wan. I mean, seriously. What would you're family's names be?"

"My mother was Janet, and my father was Bobby."

"Normal names?"

"Yeah. But then again, but brother was Bob-Jan, and my sister was Et-By. I'm the only one who wasn't named after both my parents at the same time."

"Weird."

"Hey, you should talk, _Anakin_! And what was your mother's name again?"

"Shmi."

"Shmi. Sounds like that cat from the Mutts comic strip saying 'me'."

"It's not _that_ bad."

"I suppose it's not, _Qui-Gon_. What was _your_ family's names?"

"Gon-Gon, Qui-Qui, and Gon-Qui."

Everyone stared at him for a moment, and then Obi-Wan burst out laughing. "Where did _those_ come from?"

"My parents were Qui and Gon. They were strange people."

"Not so bad for mesa! Mesa's family eez normal. Box Box, and Can Can, are mesa's parents, and Jug Jug, Container Container, and Jon are mesa's brothers and sister."

"Which one's the sister?" asked Obi-Wan blankly.

"Jon."

"My family doesn't name people after each other. We, at least, are sane."

"Oh? And what exactly are your family's _sane_ names, Taun We?"

"Baun We and Baun Us are my parents, and Taun Us and Tan We are my brother and sister. Even Lama Su has a normal family! His parents are Llama and Sue, and his brother is Llama Chow, and his sister is Sue Chow."

"I see…" muttered Obi-Wan, still lost. "Well, Padmé, I believe you've still got the normalest family."

"My family named my sisters Ryoo, and Pooja. Our parents are insane, Obi-Wan, live with it."

"Umm, okay. Boba has the normalest family. Congratulations."

"Okay, I just got back in time to hear that," answered Boba, getting back in time to hear that.

"Huh?" asked Anakin, who really hadn't been following the conversation.

"Huh what?" asked Ani.

"How'd you get down here?"

"I won't tell you. Not until you tell me what exactly you meant by 'huh?'!"

"What do you mean, what did I mean by 'huh?'?"

"What do _you_ mean, what did I mean, what did you mean by 'huh?'?"

"What did you I mean huh what I did you mean mean huh what I you did…"

"Okay, you can shut up now," snapped Ani.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then you can _still_ shut up now."

"Okay, boys, stop fighting," said Qui-Gon parentally.

"You stop fighting."

"Huh?"

"No!" cried Obi-Wan. "Don't start _that_ again!"

"I will if I want to."

"No you won't."

"Yes I will."

"No you won't."

"Yes I will."

"No you will."

"Yes I will."

"Won't you know?"

"Huh?"

"OH, NOT AGAIN!"

"Okay, I'm a little confused," muttered Anakin.

"Boba brought us down here, and now Ani's being annoying," explained Luke.

"Oh."

"He hasn't changed at all as he got older," muttered Taun We.

"Believe me, he was _much_ saner when he was a child," answered Qui-Gon. "This must be his evil twin."

"And, of course, the evil twin is also the one you raised," teased the Kamioan.

"OH, MY GOD, THEY'RE EVIL TRIPLETS!"

"And somehow, people think Jedi are sane," muttered Padmé. "What an unusual myth. And how… wrong."

Thank you, Satra, Ellenlome, Child-of-the-Dawn, Phoenix Red Lion, and Kekelina for reviewing. Maybe eventually, the story will get back to the plot, but for now, I'm content to remain totally random.


	26. Padawans

"This is _insane_," complained Obi-Wan, turning a little in his chair.

"So I've heard," muttered Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan had been saying that every few minutes for the past hour while the two sat in the cockpit on their way back to Coruscant.

"Well you can't deny that it's a little strange," retorted his friend, turning back to his normal position and staring out the window. "I mean, Anakin appeared as he was _ten years ago_, so now we've got two different Anakins here at one, plus his _son_, for Force's sake. How can you say that this is normal?"

"I'm not saying that this is normal," his old master retorted, still not looking at him. "I'm just saying that you've said that _five_ times in the past hour!"

Obi-Wan sighed. "You're right. Sorry. I'm just a little…" He paused, not quite sure what to say.

"I think 'overwhelmed' would be a good choice of words here," Qui-Gon commented dryly.

"You're right," laughed the younger Jedi. "It is all a little overwhelming."

"A little? My dear Obi-Wan, I've never known you to use so many understatements. I must be rubbing off on you!"

"Took you long enough. I don't think I was the most… receptive Padawan."

"Oh, I've had worse," Qui-Gon answered, still staring out the window. Obi-Wan turned to look at him, but the old Jedi's face was expressionless.

"Yes, I suppose you have," his friend commented quietly, but there was no response, and whether Qui-Gon had heard him or not, he didn't know.

The two sat in silence for a while, each thinking his own thoughts. Qui-Gon broke the silence after a few moments, saying suddenly, "They have to be trained, you know."

Obi-Wan turned to him, confused. "What?"

"Ani and Luke. I don't know how they got here, and I don't know what the Council intends to do about it, but if they are going to stay, they need to be trained."

"Yes, I suppose they will," Obi-Wan muttered. Qui-Gon sighed and turned to face his friend.

"Do you think they'll ask you to do it?" he asked. Obi-Wan turned around as well.

"I don't know," he admitted.

"Yes you do. They will, you know it."

"And of course, you have an opinion on that."

Qui-Gon grinned. "I wouldn't be a very good master if I didn't, even after all these years."

"Well, what is it?" asked Obi-Wan, smiling too.

"I think you should. It'll be good for you, to finally get a Padawan."

"Not to mention that in the other version of events I did." Obi-Wan carefully kept his face expressionless, but Qui-Gon just gave him a look that said 'nice try' and answered, "You did, but that's not why I think you should now."

Obi-Wan gave him a look, and he continued. "I don't think that we should try to live our lives around what 'really' happened. We shouldn't try not to be like we were, and we shouldn't try _to_ be like we were. What happens, happens, and we'll have to live with it whether we did it in another universe or not."

Obi-Wan was silent for a moment, and then said quietly, "Maybe that's where they're from."

"What?"

"Luke and Ani. Maybe they're from the 'real' version of things."

"Or a totally different one!" Qui-Gon was getting excited now. "Maybe they each came from a different timeline where one thing was changed, so everything turned out different."

"So maybe…" muttered Obi-Wan thoughtfully. "Every time we do something, there's another version of events where we did something different. And they're each from one of those!"

"That's a comforting thought," answered Qui-Gon.

"What?"

"Well think about it. If every wrong choice we made had another universe so that we had made it right…"

"But every _right_ choice we made would be opposite in another one too."

Qui-Gon gave his friend a surprised look. "I guess you're right."

"Not to mention some people would just make random choices not caring about what happens, and they'd end up totally ruining their lives in the version we _do_ have."

"Now you're _definitely _right," answered Qui-Gon. "But it's still comforting to know."

"I suppose it is."

"Would you stop saying you suppose things? There must be a thousand different ways of saying that without sounding so repetitive."

"I presume, assume, understand, believe, deduce, reason, expect, infer…"

"What?"

"I'm reading this out of a thesaurus, okay? I brought it up on the monitor. And you're sounding pretty repetitive yourself."

"What?"

"Oh, there you go again."

"What?"

"Yeah!"

Taun We popped her long neck up from where she had fallen asleep in the corner. "Okay, now you _both_ need to shut up."

"Yeah!"

Short one, but think of it this way: I got two out in one day. And by the way, I am extremely happy because I have exactly 100 reviews, thanks to Child-of-the-Dawn and Seylin. From now on, every time you review, imagine the thing you want most and pretend I gave it to you as a reward.

By the way, I can't quite decide on something. Should Obi-Wan

take Luke as a Padawan

take Anakin as a Padawan or

take neither as a Padawan?

And why does my stupid computer want me to say take care every time I type the word take at the beginning of a line?


	27. An Annoying Council

"Well, how'd it go?" asked Taun We, craning her neck so she could see Obi-Wan's face over Jar Jar's constantly bouncing head. The three Jedi and two boys had just gotten back from a meeting with the Council, and Padmé, Taun We, Jar Jar, and Boba were very excited to learn what had happened.

Frankly, Luke didn't blame them. With all the big words the Council had used, he had no idea what they'd said. Of course, falling asleep in the middle of the meeting hadn't helped matters much.

"They are extremely confusing," admitted Obi-Wan.

"Confusing? They're just trying to make you think they're smarter than you, my friend. The arrogant little…" Qui-Gon subsided into muttering. Luke remembered his Uncle Owen doing that from time to time, and it usually meant he was saying things children shouldn't hear. Knowing that it was something he shouldn't know didn't help Luke wanting to know what adults were saying. He had no idea what many of those words meant, anyway.

"That still doesn't say how it went," Padmé pointed out.

"Bad," answered Anakin for all of them.

"What happeneding?" asked Jar Jar.

"Confusing happeneding," answered Obi-Wan, and then paused and added, "Happened. Whichever."

"Did they decided what would happen with the boys or not?" demanded Taun We impatiently.

"Sort of," responded Qui-Gon, having finished his mutterings.

"So tell us!" cried Boba, expressing what the others were feeling. The Jedi all shook their heads and rolled their eyes at the Council's stupidity.

"Okay, fine. Don't tell us," snapped Taun We, and then turned to Luke and Ani. "Boys, will _you_ tell us what happened?"

"Actually, we have not idea," admitted Ani.

Luke nodded. "They use too many big words."

"Alright then. It looks like we're going to have to get it out of the Jedi."

"The Council decided that we have to figure out what Darth Maul was doing alive, who the Sith Lord is, and we have to take care of Luke and Ani until they decide what to do with them," explained Anakin.

"So why couldn't you tell us that?" asked Padmé.

"I didn't feel like it," he answered, trying (and failing) to look dignified.

"That makes no sense!" complained Taun We. "How are you expected to figure out all that stuff with the Sith, _and_ take care of two little boys at the same time?"

"I'm not little!" exclaimed Ani. Luke privately thought he should know better than to interrupt adults when they were talking for something that trivial. Even if he really _wasn't_ little.

"Of course you aren't," answered Taun We absentmindedly.

"Actually, that's _three_ boys we have to take care of," put in Obi-Wan. "They want us to look after Boba, too."

"How are you expected to do that!" cried Taun We angrily.

"With a lot of help," answered Padmé. Everyone looked at her. "Jar Jar and I can help take care of the boys while you look for the Sith, and Taun We can help both of us."

Divide and conquer," commented Qui-Gon approvingly. "Good idea."

"Was that what they meant by divide and conquer?" asked Obi-Wan.

"Doesn't matter," answered Anakin. "It still works."

"Okay."

But not everyone was as satisfied with this as the Jedi. "Hey!" complained Ani. "Don't _we_ get to help?"

"No," retorted Anakin.

Luke almost laughed, remembering that these two were the same person. Shouldn't they get along better than that?

"Actually, yes," said Taun We, suddenly struck with an idea. "You can research the Sith, and try to figure out what they'll do next, or if what happened in the past can help us see who it is who's the Sith Lord."

"Are you just trying to get rid of us?" asked Ani suspiciously.

"I won't tell you," she retorted. "Because you just won't believe me if I say no."

"You're right," he answered. "I wouldn't."

"Just try to do it either way, because you're not coming."

"Does this seem a bit familiar?" Obi-Wan asked Anakin quietly.

"Don't worry," responded the Padawan. "If Taun We's stubborner than Qui-Gon, then she's definitely stubborner than Ani."

Well, that stinks. I took forever to get this up, and then it was really short. Oh, well. I'll get more out this weekend, because it's a THREE DAY WEEKEND! Yay! Well, about the way the story's going, I've sort of figured it out thanks to reviews from Alley Parker, Satra, Phoenix Red Lion, Ellenlome, and query4. I won't tell you what Obi-Wan does, just that it _was_ suggested, at least, part of it was. The master for at least one of the boys was never suggested. And don't worry, query, I've been planning to calm down a bit, so it might not have all the random stuff about nothing that I usually have. I'm going to shut up now, before the author's note gets to be longer than the chapter.


	28. From a Kid's Point of View

Disclaimer renewal: I do not own Star Wars or any of the planets, characters, or other things they created. I also don't own the comic strip Mutts, which I mentioned in the chapter 'Stupid Names' or the planet Cardassia, mentioned _very_ early on the story. That's from Star Trek. I couldn't think of any of the Star Wars one.

"This is boring," announced Ani.

"Somehow I guessed," muttered Luke.

"How?"

"Oh, I don't know. You've only said that _five times_!"

"No need to be so crabby about it. I was just trying to get a point across."

"Well, I get it!"

"Okay, okay!"

The two boys worked in silence for another moment or two, until Ani broke the silence.

"This is boring."

"Oh come on!" complained Luke. "Not again."

Their inevitable argument was broken by a beeping from the monitor.

"I'll get it!" cried Ani, before Luke could say anything.

"No, don't…" began the other boy, glancing around, wondering if the Jedi would like them answering their calls.

"Hello?" asked Ani cheerfully, flicking on the screen.

A dark-skinned Jedi stared out of the screen, confused.

"May I speak to Obi-Wan?" he asked uncertainly.

"No!" cried Ani joyfully. "He's not here! Can I take a message!"

Luke shook his head a bit, wondering at his friend's unusual capacity for putting his extreme cheerfulness into every sentence.

"Umm, this is a little important… Do you know where he is?"

Luke shoved himself in beside Ani. "He's off with Qui-Gon and Anakin… No, not _you,_ Ani! Taun We and Jar Jar are with them, and Padmé's out chasing after Boba."

"What are they doing?"

"Boba ran off to get some ice cream. I really have no idea what ice cream is, but Boba says its good, and he wants to get some, so Padmé ran out after him to keep him out of trouble because he sort of ran away…"

"No! I mean the Jedi!"

"Oh! They're off trying to find out who the Sith Lord is. They had us research about past Sith."

"Hey!" Ani shoved in again, chattering happily. "Do you know what perseverance means? I think its sweat, but Luke says…"

"No! Perspiration is sweat. Perseverance is… something else," retorted Luke uncertainly. "Hey, what _does_ perseverance mean? And who are you?"

"Mace Windu," answered the Jedi, looking more and more confused with each word the two boys said. He really had no idea how to deal with children.

"Perseverance means Mace Windu? So what's Mace Windu mean?"

"No! Mace Windu is my name."

"So what's perseverance mean?"

"What does _that_ have to do with anything?"

"I _told_ you, we're researching the Sith and we can't understand a word these Archives are saying," snapped Ani.

"But why do you want me to… Look, can you just go find Obi-Wan for me?"

"No. Padmé told us to stay here."

Windu looked like he was about to argue, and the thought better of it. "Fine. Did Obi-Wan and the others have any clones with them?"

"There are _clones_ on Coruscant?" demanded a sudden voice from the doorway. The Jedi had returned.

Windu looked extremely relieved to see the adults in this group, being unable to handle the children.

"Yes. They just seem to have appeared here. We don't know how, but they're tearing up… well, everything. Killing everyone in their path. They're nasty."

"I've never _seen_ clones behave like that," muttered Obi-Wan, as the adults crowded in around the monitor, pushing the children out of the way.

"You've never seen clones behave like anything," retorted Taun We.

"Well, have _you_ ever seen clones behave like that?" asked Qui-Gon.

"Only if they're ordered to," answered the Kamioan.

"Which means someone must have ordered them to do all of this," pondered Windu.

"Whosa would do that sorta bombad thing?" demanded Jar Jar.

"Someone nasty," suggested Ani, trying to wiggle his way towards the monitor again.

"A Sith?" asked Anakin, lifting his younger counterpart and depositing him outside of the circle around the monitor.

"It _would_ have the sort of cruel irony I'm getting used to," commented Obi-Wan, giving Anakin a stern look and allowing the two boys into the group.

"The problem is," explained Windu, "the Sith has to be someone who both knew about the order for the clones, and has the authority to control them."

"Why would Sith care about whether they're authorized or not?" asked Luke, looking from one Jedi to the next.

"They wouldn't," explained Qui-Gon. "But the clones would."

He fell silent suddenly staring at the wall. "Sith," he muttered angrily.

"What?" asked Obi-Wan, looking at him, confused and worried.

"I think I know who this is." And without any further explanation, he turned and hurried out the door. Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other, and then at the others in the room.

"Don't worry," said Taun We with a small smile. "_This_ time I won't sneak after you."

"Thank you," answered Obi-Wan tiredly as he and Anakin followed Qui-Gon.

Taun We said goodbye to Windu and flicked off the monitor. Only then did she look around the room.

"Where are Padmé and Boba?" she asked.

As Luke explained about the ice cream, Taun We began to look more and more worried with each word.

"Sith," she muttered, glaring at the wall. "You boys stay here. I have to go find them."

"Why?" called Ani as she exited.

"If the clones are destroying everything in their path, I'd hate to see our friends get in the way," answered Taun We over her shoulder as she left.

Once she was gone, Luke and Ani stared at each other, confused. "Well, this looks bad," commented Luke as his friend walked over to the window.

"It just got worse," commented the boy. "Much worse."

Thank you, Satra for reviewing. And yes, to all who were confused, I did get rid of the 'shamed' in the title, and add humor to the genre. I think the ending is drawing near, but I'd still like suggestions as to who Obi-Wan takes as a Padawan. I've got most of the other stuff figured out, just not which one it is. Hope you enjoyed it!


	29. The Dark Side

Obi-Wan hurried after his master, barely noticing Anakin next to him, or Taun We behind them. He didn't even see when Anakin stopped to ask Taun We where she was going, or the torn look on his face when she told him she was looking for Padmé and Boba. He didn't notice when Taun We split off from the Jedi to continue her own search, or when Anakin, with the air of someone making a difficult decision, followed Obi-Wan.

"Master!" called, Obi-Wan, catching up with Qui-Gon. The tall Jedi turned, but never slowed down. Obi-Wan caught up to him, but also kept the same pace.

"Master, it was the visions, wasn't it," asked Obi-Wan, barely making it a question.

Qui-Gon nodded, his face focused ahead. The younger Jedi recognized this as a sign that his master was trying not to let Obi-Wan see what he was thinking. Usually, that meant something bad.

"What was it?" asked Obi-Wan quietly.

"Dooku," muttered Qui-Gon, still refusing to look at his friend.

"Your master?"

Qui-Gon nodded, glaring at the air a few feet in front of him. "He joined the Dark Side. He's now the apprentice to the Sith Lord." He paused, and then continued, his voice breaking. "My master is the Sith. And we have to get rid of him."

Obi-Wan was silent, thinking. He recalled, although it had never happened, what he had felt after Anakin had joined the Dark Side. He tried, and failed, to imagine what it would be like to lose Qui-Gon in the same way, but couldn't. He could only assume it would be the same pain, followed by numbness, he had felt when he had lost Anakin.

But Anakin had never _really_ been lost. He had been saved by the knowledge of what he would become. Perhaps that was all anyone needed, Obi-Wan reflected. A chance to reverse what had happened, knowing how it will turn out if you make the wrong choice.

Obi-Wan had completely forgotten Qui-Gon, running alongside him. He didn't know it, but his friend was also thinking about dark Jedi, and not only his master. Dooku, Xanatos, and Anakin. Qui-Gon's master and two of his apprentices had joined the Dark Side.

In a different timeline, Obi-Wan had turned away from killing his apprentice after he had turned. Qui-Gon knew this, slightly more than Obi-Wan knew he did, for Qui-Gon could also 'remember' this other future, remember seeing it in a vision. And now he was wondering if he would turn away from killing his master. Could he have the strength to save a Sith? Did he want to, or would it simply be better to end it all?

The pair, both deep in thought, entered a lift, and, seeing that Anakin would be slowing them down, closed the door. Qui-Gon pressed the 'up' button, and the tapped 'roof'.

"Is that where he is?" questioned Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon nodded silently.

There was a long pause, and then Qui-Gon said suddenly, "We take him together."

"What?" asked Obi-Wan.

"Together. I 'remember' what happened when Anakin tried to fight him alone. He's more powerful than we know. I don't want to risk losing…" _you_ he had meant to finish, but left it there. Obi-Wan got the message, however, and nodded. One thing was still bothering him, though.

"Master?" he asked. Qui-Gon turned to him. "How much did you see of that other future?"

"Too much," answered Qui-Gon in a strangled voice. Both were silent until they reached the top.

The door to the lift opened, and two men stepped out. A third man was standing on the roof, staring over the edge. He started when he heard the soft noise of the lift doors opening, and turned around.

Dooku's eyes widened as he saw who the Jedi coming to kill him was. "Qui-Gon," he whispered.

"Don't talk to me," growled his former apprentice. "This is hard enough as it is."

"Are you really going to kill me, Qui-Gon?" asked Dooku with a mocking smile. Despite that, Obi-Wan thought he noticed a flicker of fear in the other man's eyes. Dooku knew the answer to his question.

"I have no choice," said Qui-Gon in a strained voice.

"There is always a choice," answered Dooku quietly. "The Senate is corrupt. The Republic is failing. The Jedi have lost their glory days. The world you are protecting, Padawan, no longer exists."

Qui-Gon glanced at Obi-Wan, 'remembering' hearing his old master saying similar things to his apprentice. Obi-Wan hadn't believed it, but would Qui-Gon?

"I am not your Padawan," snapped Qui-Gon tensely.

A flicker of sadness showed in Dooku's eyes as he whispered, "No, you aren't."

Both Jedi drew their lightsabers, determined to defeat Dooku- before they ended up feeling sorry for him.

"Wait!" cried the Sith, and they stopped for a moment. "I know this won't change anything. You most likely won't believe me, and I understand that you'll kill me anyway, but let me say this before you do," Dooku said hurriedly, knowing he had limited time before they stopped listening to him. "I _am_ a Sith, true, but I am only the apprentice. The master, the true Sith Lord, is among you. Chancellor Palpatine is the Sith Lord. We call him Darth Sidious."

"You lie," snarled Obi-Wan, stepping forward to kill him.

Qui-Gon stopped him. "No, he whispered. "He doesn't."

Obi-Wan turned around to face his master, and then saw what he saw.

"_Always two, there are. A master and an apprentice."_

"_But which one was killed, the master or the apprentice?"_

"_Master Anakin, what's going on?"_

"_You are now… Darth Vader!"_

"Palpatine," murmured Obi-Wan. "It was him all along."

"We should have known," added Qui-Gon, just as quietly.

"Qui-Gon," snapped Dooku in a business-like tone. "Where is your apprentice?"

"What?" asked Qui-Gon starting, and then looked to Obi-Wan for help.

"He was right behind us… We left him behind on the lift!"

"Didn't he get in the next one?"

"I'm not certain…"

"He should be coming," Qui-Gon muttered, looking around as if trying to see his apprentice showing up, right on cue. But Anakin didn't.

"His apprentices are disposable," said Dooku bitterly. "As soon as he meets someone more powerful, he makes sure the first was killed. Anakin is the most powerful of us all. If he was vulnerable, for even a moment…"

"Qui-Gon, the lift!" cried Obi-Wan suddenly. "The one Anakin took, it doesn't go all the way up to the roof!"

"He'd have to have gotten off and gone to the other lift," realized Qui-Gon.

"And if you were still on it while he was there…" continued Dooku.

All three stared at each other, suddenly grasping what that meant. Anakin would have been alone for quite a while. With Sidious loose in the building, it was impossible to tell what would have happened to him. Was Anakin still there, the all wondered. Or had he already become Darth Vader?

Quickly, the trio moved towards the lift, getting inside it at once. Qui-Gon hesitated a second before pushing the button, wondering which floor it was on, so Obi-Wan pushed it for him. The decent was silent and tense, each wondering what had happened to Anakin. Ordinarily, the Jedi and the Sith would be unsure if they could trust one another, but even that fear was erased by the constant worry that by the time they reached Anakin, there would be another Sith in the universe.

But there was one less Sith when they reached him. Anakin was standing over a body with his back to them. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan could see that he was shaking, but Dooku didn't appear to notice.

"Anakin!" shouted Qui-Gon, hurrying towards the younger man. His apprentice turned to him, lightsaber raised, but then flicked it off, seeing who it was. "Master," he whispered, still trembling.

Qui-Gon pulled his friend into an embrace, while Obi-Wan hung back a bit, prudently probing Anakin's mind. He felt a bit of wry amusement at that, and Anakin quickly opened his mind to Obi-Wan's searching, revealing what had happened.

A few stray phrases, whispers about destinies, and a flicker of a lightsaber was all that Obi-Wan saw before he pulled back, acknowledging his friend's innocence, and joining the hug.

But what he didn't realize was that a few stray thoughts and memories had accidentally escaped into Anakin's mind.

"_I admit, I was… surprised when Anakin saved you," Obi-Wan said suddenly. "And a little guilty."_

"_Why?" asked Qui-Gon, looking at his friend in confusion._

"_Well, Anakin stopped Maul before he could do anymore damage than he already had. I suppose I felt a little… silly that I couldn't have thought to do that. And once I started seeing the other version of events…" he let it hang, but Qui-Gon finished the sentence._

"_In that version, you blamed yourself for my death?" Obi-Wan nodded, and his master gave him a look. "Obi-Wan, how could it have been your fault! There was nothing you could have done. You were trapped behind a force field. For all purposes, you weren't even there."_

"_But I should have been!"_

_There was a short pause as Qui-Gon considered the conversation in general, and then his eyes widened. "Was this why you were so self-isolated for five years?"_

"_I wasn't self-isolated, I was solitary." _

"_Obi-Wan…"_

"_Yes. It was."_

Anakin considered that for a moment. He had vague impressions that Obi-Wan had managed to convince Qui-Gon that his master had made him feel better. He also had less-than-vague impressions that Qui-Gon really hadn't. Obi-Wan was still, for some reason, feeling guilty for not saving Qui-Gon in _either_ version of events.

"You probably did in one of them," he whispered, dropping back to walk with his friend.

Obi-Wan gave him a confused look, and then his eyes widened as he realized what Anakin had seen. "Anakin…" he began.

"Look, in one of the versions of events, you probably _did_ save Qui-Gon, just like in one I did, and in one _neither_ of us did. So you can stop feeling guilty about it just because you happened to end up in one of the versions where you didn't. You're not helping anyone."

Obi-Wan stared at him in surprise for a moment, and then smiled. "Thanks," he whispered.

Anakin nodded and started to walk away, but was stopped by Obi-Wan saying his name softly. "If you ever read my mind again…" he began.

"I know, I know," grinned Anakin. "You'll rip my heart out and eat it raw." Obi-Wan nodded, trying to hide the grateful look that wanted to stay on his face.

"Wookie," muttered Anakin quietly, but Obi-Wan heard him.

Qui-Gon blinked in surprise. Now why, after defeating one Sith and turning the other good, where his two apprentices chasing each other down the hall screaming about _Wookies,_ of all things?

Thank you, Ellenlome, Fell Dragon, Satra, Kekelina, and dmitchell, my happy and kind reviewers! Especially Fell Dragon, for pointing out that Mace Windu did indeed have a Padawan. I changed that. One chapter to go (sniffle). And by the way, I'm going to have to thank the writers of Star Trek: Voyager (which I don't own) for the bit about ripping hearts out and eating them raw. I also don't own that line, but I doubt they bothered to copyright it, so I can't get in trouble for using it. Ha Ha!


	30. Missing

A/N My mistake. I realized how much I had accidentally left out of the last chapter. This one is only the second-to-last. After this, I'm planning on having an epilogue. Oh, no, wait. I might have another chapter _before_ the epilogue, explaining what happened to Dooku after this chapter. And thank you, Fell Dragon, Ellenlome, and Phoenix Red Lion for your reviews.

Dooku watched the three Jedi arguing about Wookies, and smiled. His Padawan had changed, he was sure. But Qui-Gon had obviously been a good master to these two men. The trio clearly loved each other very much, and he found it difficult to believe that he had truly _wanted_ to deceive them. But there was no going back.

He knew the scene that would await them after they returned to Kenobi's apartments. And he knew, better than anyone, that he could never explain to them what had truly happened to lead up to what they would see there. He could never tell them that the Sith Lord Anakin had killed had only been a hologram. A convincing hologram, yes. A hologram that took very intelligent people to make, yes. But a hologram none the less.

And worst of all, he could never tell them that he was not a Sith. That he had not become the apprentice after Maul's death. That he, of all people, had existed on the Dark Side solely to help his master capture the boy, Ani Skywalker.

They would never understand why. Qui-Gon had always been stubborn in believing in the Council, in the good of the universe. He would never believe that the Council, the Republic, the Jedi, the _universe_ was evil. He would never understand that it had always been the Sith, the Dark Side, who were good. He would never admit that his master was right about this. And his friends would follow him.

Dooku snapped out of his thoughtful daze with a start. They were at the apartments. Time to disappear.

"We're back!" Obi-Wan called, entering his apartment. He stopped in shock, seeing the scene before him.

"What is it?" asked Qui-Gon, shoving himself through the door after his friend. He too stopped, staring around at the room wide-eyed.

"Hey, let me in!" complained Anakin, unable to see over Qui-Gon's head. Neither of the older Jedi moved. The Padawan stubbornly began shoving his master out of the way, inch by inch.

"What's going on?" asked a female voice from behind him. Anakin turned, and, to his relief, saw Taun We approaching, with Padmé, Jar Jar and Boba in tow. All three seemed unharmed, so Anakin didn't waste time before explaining the situation to them.

"They saw something in there that shocked them, and now they won't move."

Taun We laughed pleasantly. "You just have to know how to deal with them, Anakin. Watch and learn." She turned to face his master, who was still blocking the door very effectively. "Qui-Gon! Move!" she shouted. Jolted out of his daze by the sound (and volume) of her voice, the Jedi obeyed.

"Thank you," said Anakin, and started to enter, but stopped in shock at the scene before his eyes.

"Don't make me yell at you," threatened Taun We, and Anakin moved aside, still staring. _This _time, all four made it through before gasping in horror.

All the furniture was overturned. The rug had been tossed carelessly onto the sofa, and the windows were broken, assumedly by the chairs that were missing. Glass was scattered across the room, and lightsaber marks charred the walls. Partway through the room, bits of the ceiling were on the floor. Doors were hanging off their hinges. Everything had been broken, and the scenes in the parts of the other rooms they could see were just as bad.

But the worst part of it all was that, in the middle of the room, one of the boys was lying on the ground, his back to them. It was impossible to tell if he was still alive. The other boy was missing.

Anakin, snapping out of his shock, hurried over to the child on the floor and turned him over. It was Luke. His face was bloody, and he appeared to have been thrown across the room with the Force. But Anakin, placing his hand gently on the boy's neck, felt a faint heartbeat. He was alive.

Qui-Gon stretched out with the Force, sensing for any residue the attacker might have left behind. His eyes snapped opened as he realized what had happened. "Sidious," he growled, and turned to ask his old master something. But Dooku was gone.

Cursing angrily, Obi-Wan re-entered the room from another part of the apartment. "Ani's gone," he snapped, glaring around the area.

"Of course!" exclaimed Taun We. "He took him. Sidious knew he should have tried to turn Anakin when he was younger. Now was his chance."

"Where would he have taken him?" wondered Qui-Gon.

"Ex-_squeeze_ me, but can't yousa just lookin' at the Force-y thingy?" asked Jar Jar.

Everyone stared at him. "What?" demanded the Gungan.

"Jar Jar," whispered Obi-Wan, looking shocked. "You're _right_."

"And you admitted it," pointed out Qui-Gon.

"Today is full of surprises," finished Padmé.

Obi-Wan glared at his friends and closed his eyes, reaching out with the Force to sense the entire building. He could feel Anakin and Qui-Gon joining him after a moment's pause, all three Jedi searching for the missing child and the Sith.

It was Anakin who found them. "He's in his apartment," the youngest of the three said, opening his eyes suddenly.

The two older Jedi double-checked and headed out. Anakin paused a moment and turned to Padmé. "Can you take him to the Healers?" he asked, indicating Luke. She nodded and gestured for him to go.

It took barely two minutes before the three of them reached the building, not even noticing Taun We trailing hurriedly behind them, having left the care of Luke to Jar Jar and Padmé.

Obi-Wan knocked on the door, earning him disgusted looks from the others. He grinned ruefully, although to Palpatine, opening the door, it must have simply looked toothy.

"Yes?" the Chancellor asked politely, to every appearance seeming to be a man woken from his sleep. Qui-Gon suddenly remembered that it was about two in the morning, but dismissed that as irrelevant.

The foursome shoved past him, ignoring the old man's sleepy protests. Working quickly, they split off so that each of them was searching a different room. Only Anakin remained, seeking the boy in the first area. Palpatine seemed to have backed into a corner, terrified of the Jedi. They were content to leave him there.

"Anakin, look out!" came a sudden cry from the other side of the room. Obi-Wan had finished his search and was heading for another room when he caught Palpatine raising his hands, looking malicious. He 'remembered' from his visions what had happened to Mace Windu after he had been caught in that same trap.

Blue lightening shot out of the Sith's fingers, quickly blocked by an instinctive move from Anakin's lightsaber. The lightening deflected, dancing across Sidious' skin, oblivious to his cries for mercy.

But that distraction didn't last long. The lightening tapered out, leaving a disfigured and panting man in its place.

If Anakin had thought that that would be the end of it, he was wrong. Sidious grabbed at something on his waist and held it out. As he flicked it on, the Jedi saw that it was a lightsaber. Now they were certain he hadn't been sleeping.

Sidious sliced his lightsaber in the direction of Anakin's neck, only to be blocked by the Padawan's own lightsaber.

But Obi-Wan didn't see this. After the lightening had ended, he had hurried off into another room, listening hard. Had something been banging around in there?

Sidious and Anakin's lightsabers were locked in a fierce battle. They seemed to be evenly matched, each one blocking every move the other tried. Neither appeared to be tiring, but both knew it wouldn't last forever. This would, eventually, become an endurance test.

Anakin desperately thought back to every lesson he could imagine learning from Qui-Gon. The one that kept popping into his head was that everyone has an advantage in every battle. One just has to find it. That didn't help much, as Anakin had never been very good at finding his advantages.

"Unleash your anger," Sidious hissed. And then Anakin realized something. Taun We had been wrong. The Sith didn't want Ani. He didn't want to train and raise a child. He wanted a man who had _already_ been trained in the ways of the Jedi, and only needed to have his values readjusted. Ani had been bait. And Anakin had fallen into the trap.

But that was also his advantage. Sidious didn't want to kill him. He wanted an apprentice, and apprentices do you no good if they're dead. Anakin was the only one in this battle who was actually aiming to kill. And _that_ was how he planned to win it.

Anakin raised his lightsaber high over his head, leaving himself open for an attack. Sidious automatically swept his weapon into the open spot, before twisting it away quickly, remembering not to kill this boy. But in doing that, he had moved his lightsaber away from his body, allowing Anakin to thrust his lightsaber right into Sidious' heart. And that was _exactly_ what he did.

Just as the body hit the ground, Obi-Wan emerged from another room, supporting a sick-looking Ani. He started to tell his friend how he had found the boy, but stopped when he realized what was going on.

"I found… Oh, Anakin. Are you alright?"

Anakin gave him a tired glare. "Well, what do you think?"


	31. To Explain a Universe

"Alright," began Qui-Gon, thinking out loud, "so we still have to find Dooku and…"

"Scratch that, we don't," announced Anakin suddenly. The others looked up and saw Count Dooku standing by the door to Obi-Wan's apartment, surrounded by Padmé, Boba, and Jar Jar, the latter supporting a tired but conscious Luke.

At the sound of his voice, Padmé looked up and smiled grimly. "Hello there," she said in a falsely cheerful voice. "Our _friend_ here was just asking for you."

"What happened?" asked Taun We, as she, Ani, and the Jedi hurried up to their friends.

"We were coming back from the Healers, when we found Dooku here ringing the doorbell incessantly," explained Padmé.

"I guess he didn't know that nobody was home," added Boba, giving them his toothy grin.

"Mesa did that once," commented Jar Jar. Everyone ignored him.

"And, um, _why_ exactly were you ringing my doorbell?" Obi-Wan asked Dooku in confusion.

"Because I feel that I owe you an explanation," announced Dooku grandly.

"You're damned right you do," muttered Obi-Wan, just as Qui-Gon said "And me too!"

"Don't whine," commanded Dooku, and then flushed. "Sorry. Old habits die hard."

"I've noticed," muttered Anakin. "People still insist on acting like one's master, even after one has completely grown up."

"_One_ hasn't grown up yet, One," retorted Qui-Gon.

"So… about that explanation…" began Obi-Wan hurriedly, staving off another argument between his two friends.

"Ah, right," answered Dooku, apparently thinking the same thing. Taun We found it rather amusing that the Jedi and the Sith seemed to be thinking along such similar lines, without even realizing it.

"So, um… Right. Well, you know this is an alternate universe, sort of a different version of events."

"Yes," answered Obi-Wan, wishing he'd get to the point.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because Obi-Wan and I have been having strange visions about this other dimension," said Qui-Gon, thinking exactly the same thing as Obi-Wan. (Everyone seems to be doing that lately).

"Right. So… the visions. Well, actually, we could start with why we're here. Or with exactly _how_ we're here. Or…"

"Just start at the beginning!" demanded Anakin impatiently.

"Right," answered Dooku, still looking nervous. "So, you all know the entire story of the other dimension?"

"Yes," snapped Taun We. "Get on with it!"

"Alright, alright, I'm getting there! So, after Darth Sidious was defeated…"

"Whoa, that's _definitely _not the beginning. That's, like, five minutes ago," exclaimed Anakin.

"I _mean_ in that universe!"

"When did that happen?" asked Obi-Wan.

Dooku sighed. "Anakin's son Luke, yes, Luke, that is you, went running around with his friends and his sister trying to defeat Sidious and Vader for a long time when Sidious started to kill him. While he was doing that, Vader decided to switch sides again, and killed Sidious, saving Luke. He did that, but the ship he was on blew up and he died."

"And I just let him?" demanded Luke, who seemed to be understanding at least parts of the story.

"Well, either he blew up or you both did," retorted Dooku. "Not much contest there. Anyway, just before Sidious died, he activated something that he had been working on. Not even Vader knew about it. What he had activated was the beginnings of a new version of the universe."

"That's us," Qui-Gon told Luke, who didn't seem to be getting it.

"Yes, that _is_ us. So he started this whole new universe, but it wasn't _really_ a universe."

"Meaning…"

"Meaning we're living inside a simulation of what the world would be like if something had changed. He made millions of these each changing one tiny detail, trying to see which thing could have changed events in his favor."

"So… all that happened was creating a fake universe?" asked Obi-Wan incredulously.

"Not really. He exists in those fake universes he created, trying to see which way he could have won. Once he finds out which was the best for him, he'll go exist in that one forever."

"But that's not this one, right?" asked Ani, looking scared.

"No. We won, this time."

"So what'll happen to us?" asked Padmé. Everyone looked at her. "Well, he obviously can't have any use for a universe where he doesn't win," she said defensively.

"Yes, but there are so many that he probably doesn't have time to shut them down when they fail," pointed out Dooku. "Actually, I almost pity him. Far too much for one man to keep track of."

"That's why Luke and Ani are here," realized Taun We suddenly. Everyone looked at her. "He couldn't take care of the universes very well, so they intersected. Stuff like that happens all the time, but since there are so many, the chances that it'll happen to us are so slim that it doesn't happen often enough to be noticed as a pattern."

"How did you know _that_?" asked Qui-Gon, surprised.

"I just did," she retorted.

"You probably picked up on some of Sidious' thoughts," explained Dooku. "That happens every once and a while. He tries to contact himself, so he occasionally contacts someone else by mistake."

"Which is why we have those visions," exclaimed Obi-Wan as that thought dawned on him.

Dooku nodded. "It's normally the Force-sensitive who do that, but occasionally someone else does as well. When he finally catches on to his 'other self,' he usually can only tell him a short thing or two before they get cut off when everyone _else's_ thought-patterns get in the way. So his instructions have to be very quick, or the 'other him' will misunderstand and mess it all up. Or he'll refuse to believe it's even him."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" exclaimed Obi-Wan. "Slow down. Sidious created a bunch of alternate universes before he died in the real one to give himself another chance, right?"

"Right," answered Dooku.

"And the universes are intersecting because there's too much to keep track of, which is why we have Ani and Luke here, right?"

"Right."

"And then _we're_ picking up on his thoughts, which is why we have these visions, right?"

"Right."

"So he's trying to contact himself whenever we accidentally get these visions, right?"

"Right."

"And because we defeated him in _this_ universe, he's not paying any attention to it anymore, but doesn't have time to shut it down, right?"

"Right. Knowing him, he'll probably have another area he can sort it to after it fails."

"Umm, wait. 'Area' indicates that he exists in physical being. So, uh, _where_ exactly is he?"

"How am _I_ supposed to know?" demanded Dooku, sounding annoyed. "Floating around in his manufactured space, I don't know!"

"How _do_ you know all this?" asked Qui-Gon suddenly.

"Sidious told me. The one in this universe."

"So, the real Sidious made contact with _our_ Sidious?" asked Anakin, confused.

"I would assume so, since he appears to know what's going on," snapped Dooku.

"Actually, he's dead."

"So he _knew_ what was going on. And now I do. And now _you_ do."

"We do?" asked Obi-Wan, still confused.

"Yes, you do. Look, it's a very complex concept, so just bear with me here, okay?"

"Fine."

"Once he finds the 'perfect' universe, he'll go exist in that one (as an immortal, of course, nothing less for his greatness) and we'll be free of him."

"Oh, yeah, what a tyrant," commented Obi-Wan sarcastically. "He's sorted us into the 'ignore' pile and let us take care of ourselves. Exactly what we wanted in the first place. Whoop-dee-do."

Qui-Gon elbowed him, and Dooku continued. "So, unfortunately, he's not planning to fix the messes the universes get into when they collide (which is his fault) and we don't have the means to do it, so Ani and Luke will have to stay in this universe. Unless he suddenly decides to reverse all the wrongs he's done in his life, _and_ make banthas fly in the same moment."

"Which I doubt he'll do," commented Obi-Wan.

"As do I. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go explain all this to the Council." And Dooku swept off, followed by Jar Jar and Taun We, who wanted to make sure he did what he said he would.

Qui-Gon stared after them. "Well, at least he's not making us do it," he remarked.

"That would be difficult," answered Obi-Wan. "I _still_ don't understand it!"

Wow. Just one chapter left… Maybe someday I'll make a sequel. Or maybe I won't, but still! If I do, by the way, it won't be anytime soon. Although I might start a totally different fic…

Thank you, reviewers, especially Child-of-the-Dawn and Fell Dragon, who reviewed the last chapter between the time I posted it and the time I posted this.

So, please tell me. _Did you understand this chapter at all? Did I over-explain it? Was I just going around in circles? _I need feedback, people! And with feedback comes reviews! And reviews are _always_ good!


	32. Epilogue: Five Years Later

_**FIVE YEARS LATER**_

_**CORUSCANT**_

"Taun We, Taun We, Taun We!" two voices screamed in unison. The Kamioan turned around and saw a pair of small figures hurtling towards her. Quickly, she put out her long arms onto their heads, blocking them from knocking into her.

Two blond haired, blue-eyed teenagers struggled against her grasp, laughing. They both wore the braid of a Jedi Padawan. Easily, to a stranger's eye, the boys could have been brothers.

Suddenly, the one on the right began to bounce. "Hold still, Luke," laughed Taun We. The boy obeyed and she took her hands off both of their heads. Studying them, she remembered what Obi-Wan had told her last night about the boys and grinned, realizing what the two thirteen-year-olds were excited about. "What is it?" she asked anyway.

"Our masters are taking us on our first missions!" cried Ani.

"Together!" added Luke.

"Well, should you really be surprised?" Taun We asked. "Those three get assigned to almost _everything_ they do together. No shock, after how well they did with the Sith."

"No, I guess not," agreed Ani.

"Where's Boba?" asked Luke. "I want to tell him."

"He's at Dex's. You'll have to wait for your masters to find him."

"Let's go get them!" cried Ani, and both boys ran off.

Watching them, Taun We smiled. The two had become close friends after Sidious had been defeated. They were quite a handful for their masters, and Padmé often commented how lucky the pair of Jedi were to have each other, and their friends, to help them.

It was indeed true. Although Taun We claimed it was because she had Boba to take care of, in truth, she didn't _want_ to leave her friends on Coruscant for Kamino. And Padmé and Jar Jar, for the little help the Gungan was, both took care of the boys quite often. Even Dex was willing to help out occasionally.

The closeness of the boys' masters didn't harm their relationship either. In fact, by now, they did nearly everything together. Not that their masters minded. They were often like that as well.

Ani and Luke seemed almost to be twin brothers, to people who didn't know them. Although the Council had ruled that only Jedi Knights or Masters were to know the truth about their universe, few of even those knew that Ani and Luke were father and son. It just didn't seem possible, no matter _how_ you considered it.

"Taun We." A voice from behind startled the Kamioan out of her memories. She turned around to face Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Qui-Gon.

"Have you seen the boys? We seem to have… umm… lost them." For all his attempts at seriousness, it was obvious that Obi-Wan, as usual, didn't have the slightest idea how to manage these kids.

"They just went to look for you," answered Taun We. "They're probably running around wondering where you are right now."

"And, of course, we'll most likely spend the rest of the afternoon scampering around the Temple in circles, looking for each other and constantly missing each other," complained Anakin.

"Silly, of course we will!" exclaimed Taun We. "What else do you think we do with our time?"

"Nothing of importance, I'm sure," muttered Qui-Gon. "Nothing like defeating Sith or helping people or protecting the peace. None of those boring, useless things people think Jedi do."

"Like be sane?" asked Padmé, who was halfway through sneaking up behind them. Jar Jar, who had become very much the loyal comrade to her, was standing a few feet away, looking as if he was wondering what she was doing.

Anakin turned around in mock terror. "You scared me!"

"Oh, shut it, you big sissy," retorted the Senator primly, but she was laughing.

"Shut what?" teased Anakin. "Shut the door? Shut the window? Shut the…"

He continued on like that, trotting after his friends who had already begun the search for the boys.

"So what mission are you taking them on?" asked Taun We, looking at the Jedi who weren't babbling like a moron.

"Taking who on?" asked Padmé, who obviously hadn't heard the news.

"Taking Ani and Luke on their first mission," explained Qui-Gon.

"Oooh, Oooh!" cried Jar Jar. "Theysa's gonna be _so_ excitened. Has yousa tellened them yet?"

"Yes," answered Obi-Wan. "We… tellened them."

"What did they say?" asked Padmé.

"Well, naturally, they were very excited," answered Obi-Wan. "I think, anyway. Actually, I'm not quite sure what they were thinking. They didn't say much. They just sort of… squeaked and ran off."

"They were excited," confirmed Taun We. "They came straight up to me and told me. That they were going, that is, not that they were excited."

"And now they're running around the Temple looking for us, and we're running around the Temple looking for them," commented Qui-Gon. "If this didn't happen so _rarely_, if it happened, say, every other day or something, I'd suggest that we arrange something for situations such as these. Not that it happens very _often_, of course. Nope. Very rare indeed. So rare we might just think that…"

"Alright," growled Obi-Wan. "I get it. This happens a lot. No need to rub it in. It's not as if they'd _listen_ if we suggested something for this."

"In one ear and out the other," agreed Anakin happily. "That's them! Never listen. Nope. Never, ever."

"Shut up," instructed Padmé.

"Yes _sir_!" answered Anakin, giving her a mocking salute, which he held until she passed, and then making faces behind her back. She ignored both gestures.

"That's exactly the _problem_," continued Qui-Gon, referring back to the other conversation. "They never_ listen_!"

"Qui-Gon," said Taun We pointedly. "You've had the most Padawans here. Have you ever taught _anyone_ who ever listened to you?"

"Well, no. But that's not the point!"

"Actually," pointed out Obi-Wan. "The point of this conversation is the problem with what's going on. And the problem, as you just stated yourself, is that Ani and Luke never listen. So, if that's the problem, then it must also be the point. So either it _is_ the point, or it's not the problem."

"No, it _is _the point," snapped Qui-Gon. "My past Padawans are what is not the point. Ani and Luke never listening is the _problem_."

"And the fact that _nobody_ ever listens to their masters is very closely related to _Ani and Luke_ never listening to their masters, since Ani and Luke are part of everybody."

"I thought you said it was nobody," pointed out Anakin, who was following the conversation with a cheerful amount of random interest.

"But nobody is everybody!" exclaimed Obi-Wan, and then paused, as if realizing how wrong he was.

"Well… You know what I mean!"

"Su-u-ure we do, Obi-Wan," said Anakin sarcastically. "You just keep telling yourself that.

"Shut up."

Grasping another chain of thought and abandoning his argument with the other two, Qui-Gon suddenly turned to Padmé.

"Have you heard anything about Dooku yet?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nope. We still haven't decided anything except to bump it back to that Council. Apparently, it's officially a Jedi issue."

"And didn't the Jedi decide that it's officially an issue for the entire Republic?" asked Anakin, completely lost.

"Yes," agreed Padmé wearily. "We've been bumping it back and forth since it started. Nobody wants to decide, and nobody wants to admit that they don't want to decide. It's getting annoying."

"Honestly!" exclaimed Taun We in exasperation. "I _already_ thought that politics were slow, but _this_! They've been at it for _five years_, and they still haven't decided anything except that it's complicated."

Anakin nodded sagely. "Since Dooku helped us, they don't want to _completely_ decide that he's a Sith and must be instantly killed. But he sort of… well…"

"_Is_ a Sith?" commented Obi-Wan wryly.

"Yeah. That. But nobody wants to agree on it, because they're politicians, and they don't want to ruin their reputation by agreeing, because that's not what politicians do. No offense, Padmé."

"None taken."

"Actually," pointed out Obi-Wan. "It doesn't matter if they agree, because there isn't anything to agree _with_! Nobody has decided _anything_!"

"We _know_," snapped Taun We. "Anakin just said that, and Padmé said that right before him, and we _already_ knew!"

"Alright, alright. I'm just trying to make a point."

"And we _get_ it!"

"Okay! Fine."

"At least Dooku appears to be comfortable for the moment," commented Qui-Gon after a short pause.

Everyone grinned, thinking of the dark Jedi's suddenly cheerful nature. Somehow, without ever seeming to, he managed to be useful. He spent most of his time in the Archives, studying just about everything there _was_ in there. Jedi who had something they needed to know were just as likely to ask him as the grouchy old Archive Keeper. Many of them were more likely, but that didn't seem to bother her.

Dooku had also made friends with most of the Jedi in the Temple, albeit though odd means. Each month, the Council selected a new pair of Jedi to guard him, in case he reverted to his old ways. Instantly, Dooku would become friends with the pair, and thus knew almost everyone in the Temple very well.

No matter how often they switched who was supposed to be deciding his case, they just kept him in the Temple, which everyone seemed fine with.

"Well, I suppose he'll be alright. I mean, they have to decide _sometime_, don't they?" commented Qui-Gon. Everyone seemed to agree.

Taun We watched her friends, smiling. They _all_ looked different than they had five years ago. Qui-Gon had a bit more gray in his hair. Obi-Wan had finally begun trimming his beard. Anakin had cut off his Padawan's braid shortly after the incident with Sidious, and now wore his hair long. Padmé seemed older, but Taun We couldn't quite place it. And Jar Jar somehow managed to look a bit more mature, in a Gungan way.

She barely had time to think all that before three small figures came charging down the corridor towards them. It only took a moment before the adults realized that the trio wasn't going to stop.

Quickly grabbing one, Taun We saw that Obi-Wan and Anakin had grabbed the other two. But, when they looked down, all three realized that each of them had the wrong child.

"Switch," they said in unison. Taun We passed the one in her grasp to Obi-Wan, as he passed his to Anakin, and Anakin passed his to Taun We.

The Kamioan glanced down at the boy, to make sure it really was Boba, before saying "I thought you were supposed to be at Dex's."

"I never left. I was trying to figure out… something."

"Something?" she demanded, recognizing the guilty tone.

"Well, if you poke a wasp's nest, the wasps come out and sting you. But how do they know? Is it some sort of wasp thing, or is it something else? So I went around poking all sorts of nests."

She noticed several scratches, bit marks, and stings covering his face and hands, and his clothes were ripped in several places.

"They probably notice because their home suddenly starts shaking, and maybe a stick pokes through the wall," commented Taun We.

"Oh, yeah."

"Hey, Padmé!" Ani was saying. "Did we tell you what our masters decided?"

"No, what?" asked Padmé, although she knew already.

"We're going on our first mission together!" cried Luke, wiggling from Anakin's grasp.

"Get back here!" cried his master, chasing after him while Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon laughed. Obi-Wan stopped laughing after Ani slipped away from him, and he had to chase after his own apprentice as well.

"Why are you laughing?" Qui-Gon asked Boba as the others watched them run off.

"Once they turn the corner there, they'll be on slippery ground!" howled Boba. "We poured water all over the floor!"

"Can you three ever _not _be in trouble?" asked Taun We.

"Well, why would be want to do that?"

100 pages, 125 reviews, 32 chapters, and I'm done. A sequel, you ask? Maybe someday. Keep on the lookout!

And thank you, everyone who ever reviewed. Since last time, we had Alley Parker, StarDrifter, Child-of-the-Dawn, Phoenix Red Lion, Mikey15, Storyteller Person, Babe Bunny, doreenthatshot, and Fell Dragon.

So, what did you think? Likey? No likey? Tell me!


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